Kentucky Retirement Systems Decreases Stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,590 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BIO. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $563,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 104.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 12,605 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,070,000 after acquiring an additional 6,429 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 42.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 480 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 1,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAM Holding AG purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $323,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (down previously from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $420.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Rad Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $436.67.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:BIO traded up $2.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $321.69. 71,387 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 225,276. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $288.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $306.96. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a one year low of $261.59 and a one year high of $419.00. The company has a quick ratio of 4.89, a current ratio of 6.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.03 and a beta of 0.93.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $610.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $619.09 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.59% and a negative net margin of 12.37%. Bio-Rad Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.34 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.91, for a total value of $104,024.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,994.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 17.06% 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.