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

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

BIO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $481.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of BIO stock opened at $359.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 6.14 and a quick ratio of 4.52. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a one year low of $262.12 and a one year high of $387.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $337.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $333.88. The company has a market capitalization of $10.06 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.74% and a negative net margin of 30.18%. The business had revenue of $649.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $628.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BIO. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,380 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,469,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $82,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the second quarter worth approximately $232,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 49.1% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 3,812 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 47,954 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,091,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864 shares during the last quarter. 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.