Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Hold"

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on BIO. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $355.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $270.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $409.00 to $392.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $330.50.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 0.5%

BIO stock opened at $220.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.39 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.85 and a current ratio of 6.48. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a one year low of $211.43 and a one year high of $387.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $236.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $285.36.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.81. The firm had revenue of $585.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $573.01 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 71.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.90%. Bio-Rad Laboratories's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.81 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BIO. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $3,561,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $510,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 5,195 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 190.5% during the 4th quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 2,176 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $245,000. 65.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc manufactures and distributes life science research and clinical diagnostic products in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through two segments, Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. The company develops, manufactures, and markets instruments, systems, reagents, and consumables to separate, purify, characterize, and quantitate biological materials such as cells, proteins, and nucleic acids for proteomics, genomics, biopharmaceutical production, cellular biology, and food safety markets.

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