Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on TECH. Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp raised 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. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $58.73 on Wednesday. Bio-Techne has a one year low of $56.60 and a one year high of $85.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a PE ratio of 59.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 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, analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 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 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 19,153 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,032 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Bio-Techne by 13.5% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,883 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at $434,000. 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.