Select Equity Group L.P. Decreases Position in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Select Equity Group L.P. reduced its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Free Report) by 35.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 460,658 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 247,794 shares during the quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. owned about 1.65% of Bio-Rad Laboratories worth $151,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $3,561,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $510,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 84,677 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $27,817,000 after buying an additional 27,780 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 95.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 44,341 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $14,836,000 after buying an additional 21,669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,740,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company's stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO traded down $2.57 on Thursday, reaching $225.41. 150,811 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 316,867. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $242.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $296.43. The stock has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a PE ratio of -3.47 and a beta of 1.00. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.38 and a 52-week high of $387.99. The company has a current ratio of 6.48, a quick ratio of 4.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BIO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on 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. 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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 research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $327.40.

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.