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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on TECH. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $58.73 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $66.56 and its 200 day moving average is $71.47. The stock has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne has a 52-week low of $56.60 and a 52-week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued 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 was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,650 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,295 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,119,000 after acquiring an additional 16,038 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth approximately $1,188,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 254,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $18,298,000 after purchasing an additional 25,650 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

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.