Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $391.80.

A number of research firms have commented on BIO. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $446.00 to $469.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of BIO stock opened at $363.20 on Thursday. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a twelve month low of $262.12 and a twelve month high of $387.99. The company has a current ratio of 6.14, a quick ratio of 4.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of -13.29 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $340.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $313.52.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.85. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 30.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.74%. The firm had revenue of $649.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $628.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total value of $989,820.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,494,016.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,582.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 999 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 140.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 77 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 399 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 193.8% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 1,986 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $687,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

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.