Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) hit a new 52-week high on Friday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $366.31 and last traded at $359.18, with a volume of 20116 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $358.19.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on BIO. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $446.00 to $469.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $391.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total transaction of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,582.03. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total transaction of $205,895.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,582.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,421,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $837,467,000 after acquiring an additional 31,445 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 97.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,303,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $436,861,000 after purchasing an additional 644,530 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.2% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 649,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $177,391,000 after buying an additional 134,856 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 636,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $173,773,000 after buying an additional 634,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 606,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $165,720,000 after buying an additional 91,882 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $333.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $308.47. The company has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.48 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.63 and a current ratio of 6.28.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.73. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 30.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.66%. The firm had revenue of $649.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $628.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Bio-Rad Laboratories

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.