Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Six analysts give Bio‑Rad an average recommendation of "Hold" (1 sell, 3 hold, 2 buy) with a mean 1‑year price target of $339.75; Citigroup recently cut its rating to neutral and lowered its target to $300.
• Recent results: The company modestly missed the quarter—EPS $2.51 vs. $2.57 expected and revenue $693.2M vs. $694.6M—while revenue was up 3.9% year‑over‑year and EPS declined from the prior year.
• Financial profile: Bio‑Rad has a $7.49B market cap, a P/E of ~9.94, strong liquidity (current ratio 5.62), and about 65% of shares held by institutional investors.

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $339.75.

BIO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $375.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 52.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 115.2% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 142 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BIO opened at $277.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.62, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1 year low of $211.43 and a 1 year high of $343.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $298.17. The firm has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 1.16.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The medical research company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.57 by ($0.06). Bio-Rad Laboratories had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 29.42%.The firm had revenue of $693.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $694.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.90 earnings per share. Bio-Rad Laboratories's revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

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