Securian Asset Management Inc. Cuts Position in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,290 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 161 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BIO. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2.5% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,711 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 9.4% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,834 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Down 0.5 %

BIO opened at $290.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 6.57, a quick ratio of 4.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1-year low of $261.59 and a 1-year high of $431.79. The company has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of -28.02 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $305.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $314.15.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.25. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 12.37% and a positive return on equity of 3.59%. The business had revenue of $610.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $619.09 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.41 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BIO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $420.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $461.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,332,512. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

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.