Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. Approximately 253,061 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 49% from the previous session’s volume of 169,469 shares.The stock last traded at $284.78 and had previously closed at $306.36.

The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.04. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.74% and a negative net margin of 30.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BIO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $481.00 price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $360.00 to $345.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Rad Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $15,116,000. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 59,775 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,637,000 after acquiring an additional 4,609 shares in the last quarter. Perbak Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $1,379,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 260,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $85,698,000 after acquiring an additional 51,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 107,195 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,215,000 after acquiring an additional 20,413 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 6.14 and a quick ratio of 4.52. The firm has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.12 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $338.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $336.18.

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.