Brokerages Set Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Price Target at $81.78

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $81.78.

A number of research firms have weighed in on TECH. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $76.02 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $73.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.92. The stock has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.28. Bio-Techne has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $280.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

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.