Short Interest in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Drops By 10.6%

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,270,000 shares, a drop of 10.6% from the July 15th total of 1,420,000 shares. Approximately 6.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 258,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of BIO traded up $0.82 on Monday, hitting $326.40. 176,273 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 227,386. The company has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of -31.51 and a beta of 0.93. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a one year low of $261.59 and a one year high of $406.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 4.89 and a current ratio of 6.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $308.09.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.99. The firm had revenue of $638.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.79 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 51.73% and a positive return on equity of 3.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 369 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,994.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,421,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $837,467,000 after acquiring an additional 31,445 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $180,040,000. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 649,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $177,391,000 after purchasing an additional 134,856 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 636,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,773,000 after purchasing an additional 634,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 17.8% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 606,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $165,720,000 after purchasing an additional 91,882 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BIO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (down from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $420.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $401.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $362.75.

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.