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

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 710,400 shares, a decrease of 29.0% from the March 15th total of 1,000,000 shares. Currently, 3.7% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 323,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on BIO shares. 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 on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $481.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 2.4 %

BIO stock traded up $5.89 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $250.87. The stock had a trading volume of 102,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 315,271. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $252.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $310.21. The company has a current ratio of 6.48, a quick ratio of 4.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.86 and a beta of 1.12. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1-year low of $215.38 and a 1-year high of $387.99.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,919,808 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $630,676,000 after purchasing an additional 12,168 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $342,686,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 746,119 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $245,106,000 after buying an additional 91,690 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 618,049 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $203,035,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 560,524 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $184,138,000 after acquiring an additional 181,829 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company's stock.

About Bio-Rad Laboratories

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.