StockNews.com Upgrades Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) to Buy

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $400.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $484.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $468.00.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BIO traded down $2.79 during trading on Thursday, hitting $275.42. The company had a trading volume of 164,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,243. The company has a market cap of $7.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.82 and a beta of 0.87. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 52 week low of $261.59 and a 52 week high of $473.50. The business’s 50-day moving average is $326.24 and its 200 day moving average is $318.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 5.83.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.17. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 23.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.90%. The company had revenue of $681.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.00, for a total value of $1,008,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,942 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,512. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 17.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 628.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,798 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after acquiring an additional 4,139 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 216.3% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 39,875 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,792,000 after acquiring an additional 27,270 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 18.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,227 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,718 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 7.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,859,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the period. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the first quarter valued at about $1,403,000. 65.24% of the stock is currently 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.