Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $75.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on TECH. Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W lowered Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $60.34 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne has a 12 month low of $56.60 and a 12 month high of $85.57. 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 (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 41.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 19,043 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,522,000 after buying an additional 5,601 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 38.5% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 756 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 3.5% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 6,647 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 8.1% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 22,959 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,835,000 after buying an additional 1,718 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 11.5% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 158,056 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,633,000 after purchasing an additional 16,328 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

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.