Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Stock Position in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 12.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,595 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $3,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Gladius Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 65.8% during the fourth quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 121 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the first quarter worth approximately $51,000. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Down 0.7 %

BIO traded down $2.10 on Wednesday, reaching $316.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 161,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 227,383. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $302.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $308.08. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.52 and a beta of 0.93. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $261.59 and a fifty-two week high of $406.44.

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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.79 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.56% and a negative net margin of 51.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BIO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $401.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price (down from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $420.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $362.75.

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.