Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 85,393 Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. $BIO

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its Bio-Rad Laboratories stake by 57.8% in the second quarter, adding 85,393 shares and bringing its holdings to 233,227 shares valued at approximately $68.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 65.24% of BIO.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed to negative: Citigroup and Wells Fargo raised their price targets to $330, while RBC set a $370 target and an outperform rating; the consensus rating is “Reduce” with a $343.33 price target.
• Bio-Rad shares rose 3.0% to $352.72, near their 52-week high, after the company reported quarterly EPS of $2.62 versus the $1.75 consensus and revenue of $651 million, ahead of estimates.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Free Report) by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 233,227 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 85,393 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.87% of Bio-Rad Laboratories worth $68,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BIO. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4,534.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 399,207 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $120,956,000 after acquiring an additional 390,593 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2,271.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 397,171 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $111,363,000 after buying an additional 380,422 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $75,037,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $34,600,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $33,488,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Monday. 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 research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $343.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 3.0%

BIO opened at $352.72 on Friday. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 52 week low of $236.73 and a 52 week high of $353.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.37, a current ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $303.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.65. The firm has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.75 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Bio-Rad Laboratories 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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