Short Interest in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Rises By 41.4%

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 862,700 shares, an increase of 41.4% from the February 13th total of 610,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 230,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 4.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BIO. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $360.00 to $345.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $481.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Three research 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, Bio-Rad Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock opened at $256.35 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $310.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $327.46. The firm has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a PE ratio of -3.94 and a beta of 0.98. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a twelve month low of $244.00 and a twelve month high of $387.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.85 and a current ratio of 6.48.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 21,669 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 84.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 305 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,294 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,125,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 82.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,095 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,036,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.