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

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. KeyCorp upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target 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. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 1.0 %

Bio-Techne stock opened at $59.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.64. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne has a 1-year low of $56.60 and a 1-year high of $85.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’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 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. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 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.