Citigroup Upgrades Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) to Buy

by · The Markets Daily

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO – Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $400.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $350.00. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 16.75% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (down from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $401.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.20.

View Our Latest Research Report on Bio-Rad Laboratories

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BIO opened at $342.62 on Tuesday. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 12-month low of $261.59 and a 12-month high of $366.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $327.76 and a 200-day moving average of $307.32. The company has a quick ratio of 4.63, a current ratio of 6.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of -33.07 and a beta of 0.95.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.99. The business had revenue of $638.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.79 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 51.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total transaction of $989,820.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,494,016.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total value of $989,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total transaction of $205,895.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares in the company, valued at $48,582.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,421,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $837,467,000 after buying an additional 31,445 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $180,040,000. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 649,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $177,391,000 after purchasing an additional 134,856 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 636,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $173,773,000 after purchasing an additional 634,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 606,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $165,720,000 after purchasing an additional 91,882 shares during the period. 65.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Bio-Rad Laboratories

(Get Free Report)

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.

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