Skylands Capital LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. $BIO

Skylands Capital LLC grew its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 56.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,650 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $1,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BIO. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.2% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,920 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $1,477,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. now owns 1,902 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,553 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth $1,826,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock opened at $300.15 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $284.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.56. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 12-month low of $236.73 and a 12-month high of $343.12. The company has a current ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a PE ratio of 49.45 and a beta of 1.08.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $592.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $589.91 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a return on equity of 3.56% and a net margin of 6.52%.Bio-Rad Laboratories’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.54 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BIO shares. Citigroup downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $375.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Friday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.33.

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.