Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TECH. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $75.83 on Friday. Bio-Techne has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week high of $85.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $73.78 and its 200 day moving average is $74.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 4.56. The firm has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.67, a PEG ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. Research analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $511,232,000 after buying an additional 95,133 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,862,260 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $205,081,000 after buying an additional 216,044 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,724,000. American Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,114,393 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,073,000 after buying an additional 27,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,310 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $88,267,000 after buying an additional 17,114 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is 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.