Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Given New $80.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 8.08% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on TECH. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.57.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 1.6 %

TECH traded down $1.23 on Thursday, hitting $74.02. The company had a trading volume of 583,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,085,220. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.75, a P/E/G ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth about $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in 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.