abrdn plc Raises Position in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

abrdn plc lifted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 68.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,792 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,588 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $2,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 375 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 139.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 458 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 480 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FDx Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock opened at $275.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 5.83 and a quick ratio of 4.34. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1-year low of $261.59 and a 1-year high of $473.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.84 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50-day moving average is $324.94 and its 200 day moving average is $316.96.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.17. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 23.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.90%. The company had revenue of $681.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.41 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BIO. Citigroup cut shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $484.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $468.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.00, for a total value of $1,008,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,512. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 17.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.