Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Receives $82.14 Consensus PT from Analysts

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.14.

A number of research firms recently commented on TECH. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $1,035,067.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth $43,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $62.16 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $69.45 and its 200-day moving average is $72.30. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne has a 1-year low of $56.60 and a 1-year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is 32.32%.

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.