Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Receives Consensus Rating of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Bio-Rad Laboratories has a consensus “Reduce” rating from five brokerages: two sell ratings, two holds, and one buy. The average 1-year price target is $343.33, below the stock’s $361.57 opening price.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed, with price-target increases ranging from $330 to $370; Royal Bank of Canada issued the most bullish view with an “outperform” rating, while Zacks Research downgraded the stock to “strong sell.”
• Bio-Rad exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.62 in EPS versus a $1.75 consensus estimate and $651 million in revenue versus $624 million expected. Institutional investors own approximately 65.24% of the company’s shares.

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $343.3333.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BIO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Zacks Research downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock opened at $361.57 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $306.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion, a PE ratio of 43.83 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 12-month low of $236.73 and a 12-month high of $362.42.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.87. The company had revenue of $651.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.99 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a net margin of 8.59% and a return on equity of 3.54%. The firm's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 22.9% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 21,932 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,114,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth $5,098,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 38,989 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $10,868,000 after purchasing an additional 6,224 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,089,323 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $303,637,000 after purchasing an additional 12,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 91.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 12,932 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,605,000 after buying an additional 6,175 shares during the period. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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