Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Stock Holdings Boosted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Free Report) by 95.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,341 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,669 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.16% of Bio-Rad Laboratories worth $14,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 140.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 77 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 193.8% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $51,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BIO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $446.00 to $469.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $391.80.

Insider Activity

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value of $205,895.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,582.03. This trade represents a 80.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total value of $989,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. The trade was a 28.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 17.06% of the company's stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Down 8.5 %

BIO stock traded down $29.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $320.31. 286,588 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 246,199. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $340.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $314.07. The company has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of -11.72 and a beta of 0.93. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a twelve month low of $262.12 and a twelve month high of $387.99. The company has a current ratio of 6.14, a quick ratio of 4.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.85. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.74% and a negative net margin of 30.18%. The business had revenue of $649.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $628.18 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Rad Laboratories 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.