Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Shares Acquired by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 252,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,584 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $84,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $180,040,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 64.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 494,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $135,081,000 after purchasing an additional 193,700 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.2% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 649,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $177,391,000 after purchasing an additional 134,856 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 91,882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BIO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $446.00 to $469.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $391.80.

Insider Activity at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total value of $989,820.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. This represents a 28.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total transaction of $205,895.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,582.03. This trade represents a 80.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO opened at $332.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 6.14 and a quick ratio of 4.52. The stock has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.18 and a beta of 0.93. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a one year low of $262.12 and a one year high of $387.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $340.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $315.93.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $649.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $628.18 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 30.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.74%. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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.