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

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) saw a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 651,700 shares, a decrease of 20.8% from the October 15th total of 823,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 291,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares in the company, valued at $48,582.03. This trade represents a 80.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. This represents a 28.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 193.8% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 140.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 77 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO stock traded down $22.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $328.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 93,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 245,327. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 6.14 and a quick ratio of 4.52. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a one year low of $262.12 and a one year high of $387.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $340.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $313.77.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.85. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 30.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.74%. The business had revenue of $649.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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.