Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 85,721 Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. $BIO

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Bio-Rad Laboratories stake by 36.8% in the third quarter, selling 85,721 shares and retaining 147,506 shares valued at approximately $55.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 65.24% of BIO.
• Bio-Rad shares opened at $353.23, down 3.2%, with a market capitalization of $9.45 billion. The stock trades below its $396.23 one-year high but above its $236.73 low.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.62 in earnings per share versus the $1.75 consensus estimate and revenue of $651 million. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $343.33.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Free Report) by 36.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,506 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 85,721 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.55% of Bio-Rad Laboratories worth $55,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cohen Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the third quarter worth $236,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $276,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 46.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,670 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $784,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company's stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Down 3.2%

NYSE BIO opened at $353.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a PE ratio of 42.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $373.53 and a 200 day moving average of $320.85. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $236.73 and a 1 year high of $396.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 2.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.87. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a return on equity of 3.54% and a net margin of 8.59%. The company had revenue of $651.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.99 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BIO. Weiss Ratings raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $343.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc is a global life science research and clinical diagnostics company headquartered in Hercules, California. Founded in 1952, the company develops, manufactures and sells products that support scientific research, biotechnology production, medical testing and quality assurance.

Its Life Science segment provides instruments, reagents, consumables and software used in areas such as genomics, proteomics, cell biology, digital PCR, electrophoresis, chromatography and biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

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