Paragon Capital Management Inc. Invests $1.31 Million in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Paragon Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,793 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,309,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,421,334 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $837,467,000 after purchasing an additional 31,445 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $180,040,000. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.2% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 649,522 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $177,391,000 after purchasing an additional 134,856 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 636,275 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $173,773,000 after purchasing an additional 634,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 17.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 606,788 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $165,720,000 after purchasing an additional 91,882 shares during the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In related news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,582.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total transaction of $989,820.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,494,016.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value of $205,895.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,582.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BIO. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $401.00 price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $350.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $340.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE BIO traded down $5.25 on Thursday, hitting $337.37. The company had a trading volume of 89,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,320. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 12-month low of $261.59 and a 12-month high of $366.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $327.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $307.32. The company has a quick ratio of 4.63, a current ratio of 6.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.56 and a beta of 0.95.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.99. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 51.73%. The company had revenue of $638.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.