Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Short Interest Update

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 710,400 shares, a decline of 29.0% from the March 15th total of 1,000,000 shares. Currently, 3.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 323,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:BIO opened at $238.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a PE ratio of -3.66 and a beta of 1.12. 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 has a 1 year low of $215.38 and a 1 year high of $387.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $257.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.50.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.04. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 71.86%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.81 EPS 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 the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2,175.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake 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 period. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BIO shares. StockNews.com downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $481.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Rad Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.20.

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.