Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.00.

TECH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH traded up $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.03. 309,620 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,006,330. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $73.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.36. Bio-Techne has a 12-month low of $61.16 and a 12-month high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.69, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company 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 of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 30,122 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,158,000 after purchasing an additional 11,371 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 81,138 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $5,424,000 after acquiring an additional 7,275 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $1,188,000. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 89.1% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 17,043 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 8,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.