Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Baird R W lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.14.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 3.7 %

Bio-Techne stock opened at $48.10 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. Bio-Techne has a 52-week low of $46.44 and a 52-week high of $85.57. The firm has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.59, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. Equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth $137,301,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $767,428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,954 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth about $44,479,000. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,335,359 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $168,216,000 after buying an additional 495,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,047,000. 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.