Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $301.90, but opened at $290.50. Bio-Rad Laboratories shares last traded at $298.3270, with a volume of 57,330 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on BIO shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Friday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $303.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 1.4%

The company has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 50.41 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a current ratio of 3.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $292.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.48.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by ($0.08). Bio-Rad Laboratories had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 3.56%. The company had revenue of $592.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.91 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.42 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4,534.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 399,207 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $120,956,000 after acquiring an additional 390,593 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2,271.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 397,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $111,363,000 after purchasing an additional 380,422 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $75,037,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 6,586.3% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 147,834 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,209,000 after purchasing an additional 145,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $34,600,000. Institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

About Bio-Rad Laboratories

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc is a global provider of life science research and clinical diagnostic products. The company operates through two primary business segments: Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. Within the Life Science segment, Bio-Rad offers instruments, reagents and consumables for protein analysis, cell biology, gene expression and other molecular biology applications. The Clinical Diagnostics segment supplies quality control products, blood-typing reagents and instruments, and molecular diagnostic assays used in blood screening, infectious disease testing and routine clinical laboratories.

Founded in 1952 by David and Alice Schwartz and headquartered in Hercules, California, Bio-Rad has grown its footprint across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other regions.