Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Baird R W

Baird R W lowered shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on TECH. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.29.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $65.80 on Wednesday. Bio-Techne has a twelve month low of $61.16 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $73.14 and its 200-day moving average is $73.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.46, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 356,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,503,000 after purchasing an additional 8,457 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth approximately $218,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 8.4% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at $232,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.