Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Upgraded to “Buy” by Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $400.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $350.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on BIO. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a hold rating and issued a $315.00 price target (down previously from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $340.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $401.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $368.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:BIO opened at $337.09 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $327.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $307.32. The firm has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.54 and a beta of 0.95. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 52-week low of $261.59 and a 52-week high of $366.30. The company has a quick ratio of 4.63, a current ratio of 6.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $638.50 million for 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%. Bio-Rad Laboratories’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Bio-Rad Laboratories

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 193.8% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $38,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth about $51,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 171 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. 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.