Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO – Get Rating) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,129 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,984 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $12,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BIO. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $724,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 5,872 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 2,891 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 501 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 65,094 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,663,000 after purchasing an additional 6,936 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BIO. TheStreet upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $571.00 to $579.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $653.00.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other news, EVP Timothy S. Ernst sold 1,746 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.43, for a total transaction of $849,306.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,299,254.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO stock opened at $372.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.28, a current ratio of 5.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 52 week low of $344.63 and a 52 week high of $572.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of -57.03 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $439.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $441.59.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The medical research company reported $3.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.24 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $676.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $689.28 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 7.01% and a positive return on equity of 4.10%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.94 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 14.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Profile

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Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc engages in the development and production of specialty chemicals used in biochemical, pharmaceutical, and other life science research applications. It operates through the Life Sciences and Clinical Diagnostics segments. The Life Science segment develops, manufactures, and markets reagents, apparatus, and laboratory instruments.