Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Shares Sold by WFA of San Diego LLC

WFA of San Diego LLC lessened its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,020 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $180,040,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 634,311 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 64.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 494,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $135,081,000 after buying an additional 193,700 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.2% in 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 buying an additional 134,856 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 17.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 606,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $165,720,000 after acquiring an additional 91,882 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total value of $989,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. This represents a 28.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares in the company, valued at $48,582.03. The trade was a 80.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:BIO opened at $338.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 4.52 and a current ratio of 6.14. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $262.12 and a 1 year high of $387.99. The stock has a market cap of $9.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.39 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $340.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $317.08.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.85. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.74% and a negative net margin of 30.18%. The firm had revenue of $649.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $628.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BIO shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $446.00 to $469.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Rad Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $391.80.

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.