Royal Bank of Canada Increases Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Price Target to $469.00

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $446.00 to $469.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on BIO. StockNews.com cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 price target for the company. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $391.80.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 2.9 %

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock opened at $368.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 6.14 and a quick ratio of 4.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $333.99 and a 200-day moving average of $308.58. The company has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.48 and a beta of 0.93. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a one year low of $262.12 and a one year high of $372.27.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $649.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.18 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.74% and a negative net margin of 30.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,494,016.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares in the company, valued at $48,582.03. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BIO. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $731,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 16.8% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,724 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after buying an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 7.7% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 836 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP raised its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2,052.5% during the first quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 104,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,226,000 after acquiring an additional 99,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 17.2% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,230 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.