Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Stock Breaks Above 50-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $374.06 and traded as high as $381.87. Bio-Rad Laboratories shares last traded at $380.5830, with a volume of 167,156 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $343.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 2.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $375.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $313.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.48 and a beta of 1.07.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.87. The firm had revenue of $651.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.99 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a return on equity of 3.54% and a net margin of 8.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $118,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 437 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. 65.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Bio-Rad Laboratories

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc develops, manufactures and markets products and systems used in life science research and clinical diagnostics. Its life science portfolio includes laboratory instruments, reagents, software and consumables used in areas such as genomics, proteomics, cell biology, biopharmaceutical development and quality control.

The company’s clinical diagnostics business provides systems, reagents and software for blood typing, infectious disease testing, diabetes monitoring, quality control and other diagnostic applications.