First Pacific Advisors LP Acquires 214,705 Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

First Pacific Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Free Report) by 136.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 372,555 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 214,705 shares during the quarter. Bio-Rad Laboratories comprises 1.5% of First Pacific Advisors LP's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. First Pacific Advisors LP owned about 1.33% of Bio-Rad Laboratories worth $90,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BIO. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 705.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 427,292 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $140,370,000 after buying an additional 374,269 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 560,524 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $184,138,000 after buying an additional 181,829 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 22,131.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 147,841 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $36,008,000 after buying an additional 147,176 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,644,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 746,119 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $245,106,000 after buying an additional 91,690 shares in the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of BIO stock traded up $2.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $264.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 247,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,801. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.43 and a 1-year high of $387.99. The company has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.47 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.43 and a current ratio of 5.99. The firm's 50-day moving average is $239.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.03.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.81. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 85.16% and a positive return on equity of 4.32%. The firm had revenue of $585.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $573.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $409.00 to $392.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $260.00 to $245.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased 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 research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $324.25.

About Bio-Rad Laboratories

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.