Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $280.12, but opened at $261.47. Bio-Rad Laboratories shares last traded at $252.5580, with a volume of 107,144 shares trading hands.

The medical research company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $592.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.91 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 29.42%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.54 earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Citigroup downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $339.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BIO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 30,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,382,000 after purchasing an additional 6,100 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 105,006 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,575,000 after purchasing an additional 32,874 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 95.3% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 37,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,105,000 after purchasing an additional 18,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Down 11.0%

The company has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $277.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $298.20. The company has a current ratio of 5.62, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc is a global provider of life science research and clinical diagnostic products. The company operates through two primary business segments: Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. Within the Life Science segment, Bio-Rad offers instruments, reagents and consumables for protein analysis, cell biology, gene expression and other molecular biology applications. The Clinical Diagnostics segment supplies quality control products, blood-typing reagents and instruments, and molecular diagnostic assays used in blood screening, infectious disease testing and routine clinical laboratories.

Founded in 1952 by David and Alice Schwartz and headquartered in Hercules, California, Bio-Rad has grown its footprint across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other regions.