Short Interest in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Rises By 12.9%

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 551,600 shares, an increase of 12.9% from the November 30th total of 488,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 196,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $369.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $394.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO stock traded down $4.53 on Monday, hitting $326.34. 101,292 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 239,531. The company has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a PE ratio of -11.94 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day moving average is $339.67 and its 200 day moving average is $324.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 6.14 and a quick ratio of 4.52. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1-year low of $262.12 and a 1-year high of $387.99.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $649.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $628.18 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 30.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% in the 2nd 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 21,669 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 63.0% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 217,885 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $72,900,000 after buying an additional 84,237 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 193.3% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,161,000 after buying an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 341.7% in the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 5,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,773,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.