Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Raises Holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.5%, holding 5,487 shares valued at approximately $1.34 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Bio-Rad Laboratories, with Citigroup reducing their target from $400 to $350, while Royal Bank of Canada increased theirs from $387 to $409.
• Bio-Rad Laboratories reported earnings of $2.61 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.93, and had revenues of $651.6 million for the quarter.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Free Report) by 26.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,487 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $1,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,600 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,254 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 901 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 342.9% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 801 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BIO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $355.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $387.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $333.50.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Down 3.2%

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock traded down $8.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $263.50. 192,101 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 338,340. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 5.12 and a quick ratio of 3.67. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $243.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $259.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46 and a beta of 0.90. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.43 and a 52-week high of $387.99.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The medical research company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $651.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $614.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.11 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Rad Laboratories 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.