Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Research Coverage Started at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $340.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock.

BIO has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $315.00 price target (down previously from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $420.00 to $385.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $401.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $358.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BIO opened at $337.32 on Tuesday. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1 year low of $261.59 and a 1 year high of $406.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $307.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $308.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a PE ratio of -32.56 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 6.57 and a quick ratio of 4.89.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.99. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 51.73% and a positive return on equity of 3.56%. The firm had revenue of $638.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.91, for a total transaction of $104,024.79. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,994.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BIO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,421,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $837,467,000 after purchasing an additional 31,445 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $180,040,000. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.2% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 649,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $177,391,000 after purchasing an additional 134,856 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 636,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,773,000 after purchasing an additional 634,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 17.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 606,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $165,720,000 after purchasing an additional 91,882 shares during the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.