Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Shares Down 4.3%

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) traded down 4.3% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $329.61 and last traded at $329.61. 31,026 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 225,685 shares. The stock had previously closed at $344.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BIO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (down from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. StockNews.com cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $401.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $358.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 6.28 and a quick ratio of 4.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $323.25 and a 200-day moving average of $307.87. The stock has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a PE ratio of -31.69 and a beta of 0.95.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.99. The business had revenue of $638.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.79 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 51.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. Research analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total value of $989,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total transaction of $989,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value of $205,895.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,582.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 636,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $173,773,000 after acquiring an additional 634,311 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 151,691 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $48,980,000 after acquiring an additional 41,937 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth $1,824,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $2,609,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth $15,340,000. 65.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc manufactures and distributes life science research and clinical diagnostic products in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through two segments, Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. The company develops, manufactures, and markets instruments, systems, reagents, and consumables to separate, purify, characterize, and quantitate biological materials such as cells, proteins, and nucleic acids for proteomics, genomics, biopharmaceutical production, cellular biology, and food safety markets.