Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 746,119 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 91,690 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 2.66% of Bio-Rad Laboratories worth $245,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $3,561,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $510,000. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $958,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 48.8% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 84,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,817,000 after buying an additional 27,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 95.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 44,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,836,000 after acquiring an additional 21,669 shares during the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

BIO stock opened at $236.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $254.11 and a 200 day moving average of $310.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 6.48 and a quick ratio of 4.85. The company has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.64 and a beta of 1.12. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.38 and a 1 year high of $387.99.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.04. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 71.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.90%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.81 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BIO. StockNews.com lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $481.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.20.

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.