Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Shares Bought by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO - Free Report) by 1,501.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,994 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,807 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 54,500 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $17,904,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $443,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $510,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,561,000. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $481.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE:BIO traded down $6.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $279.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 334,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,792. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.30 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $332.88 and a 200-day moving average of $334.33. The company has a current ratio of 6.48, a quick ratio of 4.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 52-week low of $262.12 and a 52-week high of $387.99.

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