Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday, Market Beat.com reports.

According to Zacks, “Affymetrix is set to be acquired by Thermo Fisher for $1.3 billion, which we believe is positive for investors. Meanwhile, Affymetrix’s strategy of diversifying revenues and focusing on new market opportunities is paying off. The genetic analysis business continues to be the primary growth driver for the company. Moreover, we feel that the collaboration with Toshiba Corp and the U.K. Biobank contract will open up new opportunities for Affymetrix and help the company gain significant market traction, going forward. In addition, the rollout of new products is a key growth catalyst. However, recent foreign exchange volatility may impact top-line growth in the near term.”

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Affymetrix from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $13.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research restated a “hold” rating on shares of Affymetrix in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Mizuho downgraded Affymetrix from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 11th. Finally, Cowen and Company reduced their target price on Affymetrix from $12.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.83.

Other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Simplex Trading purchased a new position in Affymetrix during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $0. MUFG Americas boosted its position in Affymetrix by 12.5% in the third quarter. MUFG Americas now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Asset Management Company boosted its position in Affymetrix by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Capstone Asset Management Company now owns 30,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 1,330 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Affymetrix by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 40,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River & Mercantile Asset Management purchased a new position in Affymetrix during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $777,000.

Affymetrix (NASDAQ:AFFX) traded up 0.36% during trading on Monday, hitting $13.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,355,637 shares. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.91. Affymetrix has a 1-year low of $8.28 and a 1-year high of $14.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion and a PE ratio of 103.81.

Affymetrix (NASDAQ:AFFX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.02. The firm earned $86.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.04 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Affymetrix will post $0.42 EPS for the current year.

Affymetrix, Inc. is a provider of life science products and molecular diagnostic products that enable parallel analysis of biological systems at the gene, protein and cell level. The Company sells its products to genomic research centers, academic institutions, government and private laboratories, as well as pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnology companies. The Company maintains sales and distribution operations across the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. It operates in two business segments: Affymetrix Core and eBioscience. Affymetrix Core focuses on the development, manufacture and commercialization of systems for genetic analysis in the life sciences, agricultural biotechnology (NASDAQ:AFFX) and diagnostic industries. eBioscience primarily focuses on the development, manufacture, marketing and distribution of research products in the areas of flow cytometry, immunoassays, microscopic imaging and other protein-based analyses.

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