Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 655,500 shares, an increase of 18.8% from the December 15th total of 551,600 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 183,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BIO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $481.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $394.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:BIO traded down $1.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $342.95. 124,273 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 140,854. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $336.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $330.68. The company has a current ratio of 6.14, a quick ratio of 4.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.55 and a beta of 0.90. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 12 month low of $262.12 and a 12 month high of $387.99.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $649.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.18 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.74% and a negative net margin of 30.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,380 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,469,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,719 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $743,000 after buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 109,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,783,000 after buying an additional 9,185 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 348,540 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $95,190,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 193,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% 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.