Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Reaches New 12-Month Low - Should You Sell?

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $247.50 and last traded at $247.66, with a volume of 175250 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $261.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BIO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $360.00 to $345.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $481.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 0.2 %

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $316.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $329.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.85 and a current ratio of 6.48. The stock has a market cap of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.87 and a beta of 0.99.

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Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 71.86%. Research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BIO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,919,808 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $630,676,000 after acquiring an additional 12,168 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $342,686,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 91,690 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 618,049 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $203,035,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 48.0% during 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 during the period. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.