First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Free Report) by 94.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,093 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 17,163 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BIO. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 712 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 265 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 109 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,530 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,488,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on BIO shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $409.00 to $392.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $327.40.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Thursday, hitting $237.13. The stock had a trading volume of 67,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 317,834. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.38 and a 12 month high of $387.99. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $243.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $299.90. The stock has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of -3.65 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 6.48 and a quick ratio of 4.85.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.81. The business 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 business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.81 EPS 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.