Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $84.29.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $65.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.57. The stock has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.46, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne has a 12-month low of $61.16 and a 12-month high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,339,370,000 after buying an additional 275,644 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $767,428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,954 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $511,232,000 after acquiring an additional 95,133 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,702,942 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $338,756,000 after purchasing an additional 317,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $287,488,000 after purchasing an additional 98,660 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells life science reagents, instruments, and services for the research and clinical diagnostic markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Greater China, rest of Asia-Pacific, and internationally.