Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Receives $81.25 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nine analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $81.25.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TECH. Baird R W lowered Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank raised their price target 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. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH stock traded up $5.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $54.07. The company had a trading volume of 4,371,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,165,302. Bio-Techne has a 12-month low of $46.44 and a 12-month 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 capitalization of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.62, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.21 and a 200-day moving average of $69.95.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company'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 in the company, valued at $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

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.