Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) gapped down before the market opened on Friday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $280.12, but opened at $261.47. Bio-Rad Laboratories shares last traded at $252.5580, with a volume of 107,144 shares changing hands.

The medical research company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by ($0.08). Bio-Rad Laboratories had a net margin of 29.42% and a return on equity of 3.86%. The firm had revenue of $592.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $589.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.54 EPS. Bio-Rad Laboratories’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Citigroup cut shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $339.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BIO. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 25.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 30,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,382,000 after purchasing an additional 6,100 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 45.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 105,006 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,575,000 after purchasing an additional 32,874 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 95.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 37,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,105,000 after purchasing an additional 18,239 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Down 11.0%

The firm has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 4.19, a current ratio of 5.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $277.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $298.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc is a global provider of life science research and clinical diagnostic products. The company operates through two primary business segments: Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. Within the Life Science segment, Bio-Rad offers instruments, reagents and consumables for protein analysis, cell biology, gene expression and other molecular biology applications. The Clinical Diagnostics segment supplies quality control products, blood-typing reagents and instruments, and molecular diagnostic assays used in blood screening, infectious disease testing and routine clinical laboratories.

Founded in 1952 by David and Alice Schwartz and headquartered in Hercules, California, Bio-Rad has grown its footprint across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other regions.