Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Down 6.9% – Should You Sell?

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) traded down 6.9% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $58.92 and last traded at $58.55. 819,209 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 1,043,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on TECH. StockNews.com downgraded Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.14.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 7.0 %

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.62. 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 firm has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.06, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced 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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of TECH. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,650 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after buying an additional 5,295 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,119,000 after purchasing an additional 16,038 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth approximately $1,188,000. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 100.0% in the third quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,986,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.