Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on TECH. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.14.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $48.10 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.60. Bio-Techne has a 52 week low of $46.44 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. The company has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 48.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 3.1% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 329,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,298,000 after purchasing an additional 10,030 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,210 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.6% in the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 46,753 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,741,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in Bio-Techne by 31.4% during the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 333,784 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $19,570,000 after purchasing an additional 79,750 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.