Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $55.36 and last traded at $55.73, with a volume of 203836 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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, February 6th. Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. 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, Bio-Techne currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 4.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.12. The firm has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,301,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth $89,724,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at $44,479,000. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 26.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 495,404 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.