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

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 551,600 shares, a growth of 12.9% from the November 30th total of 488,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 196,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $369.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $394.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:BIO traded up $2.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $328.51. 103,813 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 238,992. The company has a quick ratio of 4.52, a current ratio of 6.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.02 and a beta of 0.90. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 52 week low of $262.12 and a 52 week high of $387.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $339.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $325.09.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIO. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 97.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,303,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $436,861,000 after purchasing an additional 644,530 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 636,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,773,000 after buying an additional 634,311 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $83,681,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 64.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 494,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $135,081,000 after acquiring an additional 193,700 shares during the period. Finally, 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. Institutional investors 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.