Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Stock Position Lessened by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Free Report) by 74.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,807 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,258 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BIO. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2,175.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 342.9% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 98 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 109 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:BIO traded down $1.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $246.78. 178,728 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 318,698. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $297.26. The company has a quick ratio of 4.85, a current ratio of 6.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.38 and a 52 week high of $387.99.

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 (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 analysts' expectations of $573.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. Bio-Rad Laboratories's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.