Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $82.00.

TECH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 261,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,934,000 after buying an additional 1,843 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,188,000. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 17.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,313,000 after purchasing an additional 4,356 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 55.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,651 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $73.03 on Wednesday. Bio-Techne has a one year low of $61.16 and a one year high of $85.57. The company has a market cap of $11.60 billion, a PE ratio of 77.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.30 and a 200-day moving average of $74.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

About Bio-Techne

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.