Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Acquires 4,541 Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. $BIO

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 54.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,956 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,541 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $3,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 60.7% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,517,313 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $607,478,000 after acquiring an additional 951,123 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,987,000. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1,790.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 120,885 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,172,000 after buying an additional 114,490 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,763,000. Finally, Scopia Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,862,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BIO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $265.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $358.50.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE BIO opened at $299.42 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 5.44, a quick ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $311.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.62. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 12 month low of $211.43 and a 12 month high of $368.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.32 and a beta of 1.18.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The medical research company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $653.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $651.30 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 4.19% and a negative net margin of 26.43%.The business’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP James Barry sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.18, for a total value of $214,326.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,151.80. This represents a 57.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 17.83% 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.