Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $303.3333.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Friday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $375.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BIO. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 115.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 142 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 184 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO opened at $304.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.18 and a beta of 1.08. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1 year low of $236.73 and a 1 year high of $343.12. The company’s fifty day moving average is $288.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a current ratio of 3.21.

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

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company 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.