Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Cut to “Neutral” at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $68.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $88.00.

Several other research firms have also commented on TECH. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.29.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $64.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of 65.58, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne has a 1 year low of $61.16 and a 1 year high of $85.57.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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 payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne 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 transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth $43,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.