Royal Bank Of Canada Increases Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Price Target to $409.00

Key Points

• Royal Bank Of Canada has raised its price target for Bio-Rad Laboratories from $387.00 to $409.00, indicating a potential upside of 43.56% from the stock's previous close.
• Other analysts have varied views; Citigroup has lowered its target to $350.00, while UBS Group cut its target to $310.00, with both maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Bio-Rad reported $2.61 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and showing a 2.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $651.60 million.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $387.00 to $409.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the medical research company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price target would indicate a potential upside of 48.49% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BIO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $355.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $333.50.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE BIO traded down $1.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $275.44. 113,998 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 337,892. The company has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48 and a beta of 0.90. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a one year low of $211.43 and a one year high of $387.99. The company has a quick ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 5.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $242.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $259.34.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The medical research company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.68. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a net margin of 12.50% and a return on equity of 4.01%. The firm had revenue of $651.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $614.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.11 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 211.3% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,317 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $724,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 64.1% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 3,195 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 131.4% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 21,175 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,110,000 after acquiring an additional 12,023 shares during the period. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP raised its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 3.9% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 386,949 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $93,379,000 after acquiring an additional 14,394 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company's stock.

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.