Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Hits New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Bio-Rad Laboratories reached a new 52-week high of $386.67, up 1.8%, giving the company a market capitalization of about $10.39 billion.
• Analysts remain cautious despite recent target increases: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating from one Buy and four Hold ratings, with an average price target of $343.33—below its current price.
• Bio-Rad exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.62 in EPS versus a $1.75 estimate and revenue of $651 million, while institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s shares.

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $386.67 and last traded at $386.4110, with a volume of 97330 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $381.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "sell (d)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $343.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 1.8%

The firm has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.01 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a current ratio of 3.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $317.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $293.37.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.87. The firm had revenue of $651.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $623.99 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a net margin of 8.59% and a return on equity of 3.54%. Bio-Rad Laboratories's revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BIO. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 27,700.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,097,105 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,790,171,000 after purchasing an additional 6,075,173 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,570,473 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $778,828,000 after buying an additional 50,154 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,089,323 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $303,637,000 after buying an additional 12,251 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 494,472 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $149,820,000 after buying an additional 76,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 459,887 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $128,948,000 after buying an additional 7,754 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company's stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc is a global provider of life science research and clinical diagnostic products. The company operates through two primary business segments: Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. Within the Life Science segment, Bio-Rad offers instruments, reagents and consumables for protein analysis, cell biology, gene expression and other molecular biology applications. The Clinical Diagnostics segment supplies quality control products, blood-typing reagents and instruments, and molecular diagnostic assays used in blood screening, infectious disease testing and routine clinical laboratories.

Founded in 1952 by David and Alice Schwartz and headquartered in Hercules, California, Bio-Rad has grown its footprint across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other regions.

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