18,290 Shares in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. $BIO Bought by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 18,290 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,098,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Bio-Rad Laboratories at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,570,473 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $778,828,000 after buying an additional 50,154 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,089,323 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $303,637,000 after buying an additional 12,251 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 494,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $149,820,000 after buying an additional 76,117 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 459,887 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $128,948,000 after acquiring an additional 7,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4,534.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Down 0.4%

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock opened at $325.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a PE ratio of 53.62 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $299.36 and its 200-day moving average is $287.85. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $236.73 and a fifty-two week high of $343.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 3.21 and a quick ratio of 2.37.

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 the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $592.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Bio-Rad Laboratories Profile

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.