Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Shares Gap Down to $290.86

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $290.86, but opened at $275.83. Bio-Rad Laboratories shares last traded at $273.29, with a volume of 49,068 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BIO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $484.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Rad Laboratories has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $468.00.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $330.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $320.72. The company has a current ratio of 5.83, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a PE ratio of -13.08 and a beta of 0.87.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $681.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $685.00 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 23.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.90%. The business's revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.00, for a total transaction of $1,008,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,512. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 17.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIO. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $116,036,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $73,142,000. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $79,143,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $61,866,000. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $62,351,000. Institutional investors own 65.24% of the company's stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company 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.