Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on BIO. Citigroup upped their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $481.00 price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $360.00 to $345.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Rad Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

BIO stock traded down $29.81 during trading on Monday, reaching $276.55. 1,065,491 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 151,421. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 4.52 and a current ratio of 6.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $337.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $335.68. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 52-week low of $262.12 and a 52-week high of $387.99. The company has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.12 and a beta of 0.90.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.04. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.74% and a negative net margin of 30.18%. As a group, analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4.4% in the 4th 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 during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.2% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 999 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 109 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.7% during the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

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.