Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Sets New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $247.50 and last traded at $247.66, with a volume of 175250 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $261.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BIO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $360.00 to $345.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $481.00 price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 4.85, a current ratio of 6.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $319.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $330.35. The stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a PE ratio of -3.84 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BIO. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $3,494,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,052 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,331,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,211,000. Finally, Sone Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,663,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

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.