Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $2.21 Million in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,731 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $2,211,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BIO. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $342,686,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 374,269 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 560,524 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $184,138,000 after acquiring an additional 181,829 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $41,644,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 746,119 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $245,106,000 after acquiring an additional 91,690 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company's stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:BIO traded up $2.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $222.58. 95,656 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 325,299. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $237.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $287.41. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 12 month low of $211.43 and a 12 month high of $387.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.42 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 6.48, a quick ratio of 4.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.81. The firm had revenue of $585.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $573.01 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 71.86%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BIO shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $270.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $355.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $409.00 to $392.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $330.50.

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.