Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Short Interest Up 11.7% in August

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,050,000 shares, an increase of 11.7% from the August 15th total of 940,000 shares. Approximately 5.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 259,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BIO. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price target (down from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $401.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $358.20.

Insider Activity at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total transaction of $205,895.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,582.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total transaction of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,582.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total transaction of $989,820.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIO. Brio Consultants LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $840,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 5,200.0% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,466 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 6,344 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,142,000. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 1.0 %

BIO stock opened at $333.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.52 billion, a PE ratio of -32.21 and a beta of 0.95. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1 year low of $261.59 and a 1 year high of $377.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $319.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $307.37. The company has a current ratio of 6.28, a quick ratio of 4.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.99. The company had revenue of $638.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.79 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 51.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.00 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.