Evercore ISI Initiates Coverage on Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH)

Equities research analysts at Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target indicates a potential upside of 23.17% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $60.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.51, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne has a 52 week low of $56.60 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.06.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. As a group, analysts expect that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.