Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Friday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Citigroup cut 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $303.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 0.3%

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock opened at $298.45 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.17 and a beta of 1.08. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $236.73 and a fifty-two week high of $343.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $286.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $287.55.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Bio-Rad Laboratories had a return on equity of 3.56% and a net margin of 6.52%.The business had revenue of $592.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $589.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 25.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 30,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,382,000 after buying an additional 6,100 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 45.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 105,006 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,575,000 after acquiring an additional 32,874 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 95.3% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 37,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,105,000 after acquiring an additional 18,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 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.