Norges Bank Buys Shares of 126,766 Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 126,766 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,644,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 712 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 265 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 109 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,488,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on BIO. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $481.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $360.00 to $345.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:BIO opened at $225.21 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.85, a current ratio of 6.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $281.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $319.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of -3.46 and a beta of 0.98. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.18 and a 12-month high of $387.99.

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