Squarepoint Ops LLC Decreases Stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Squarepoint Ops LLC decreased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Free Report) by 39.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,174 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 8,712 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC's holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $4,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,919,808 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $630,676,000 after purchasing an additional 12,168 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $342,686,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.0% in the fourth 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 during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 618,049 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $203,035,000 after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares during the period. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 48.0% in the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company's stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE BIO traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $227.46. 54,921 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 314,324. The business's 50 day moving average is $239.36 and its 200-day moving average is $290.48. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.38 and a 1 year high of $387.99. The company has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.50 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.85 and a current ratio of 6.48.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BIO. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $270.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $355.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $409.00 to $392.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $327.40.

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.