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

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $394.20.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BIO shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $481.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE BIO opened at $359.43 on Tuesday. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 12 month low of $262.12 and a 12 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $337.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $333.88. The stock has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.15 and a beta of 0.90.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $649.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $628.18 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 30.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.74%. Bio-Rad Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 95.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 44,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,836,000 after buying an additional 21,669 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 63.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 217,885 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $72,900,000 after acquiring an additional 84,237 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 193.3% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 341.7% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 5,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,773,000 after purchasing an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $958,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

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.