KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases New Holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $342,686,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $83,681,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $28,740,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,820,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 48.8% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 84,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,817,000 after purchasing an additional 27,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $360.00 to $345.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $481.00 price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock opened at $247.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.81 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $295.53 and its 200-day moving average is $323.04. The company has a current ratio of 6.48, a quick ratio of 4.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.76 and a 12 month high of $387.99.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.04. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 71.86%. Equities research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.81 EPS for the current 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.