Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Stock

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) had its price target increased by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $446.00 to $469.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 27.30% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started 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 objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $391.80.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 2.9 %

BIO opened at $368.42 on Thursday. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a one year low of $262.12 and a one year high of $372.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.63 and a current ratio of 6.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.48 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $333.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $308.47.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $649.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $628.18 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.66% and a negative net margin of 30.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In related news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares in the company, valued at $48,582.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,494,016.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total transaction of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,582.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth about $731,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 16.8% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,724 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,634,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 836 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2,052.5% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 104,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,226,000 after acquiring an additional 99,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,230 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 328 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 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.