Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 2.0 %

Bio-Techne stock traded down $1.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,505,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,111,228. 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 50 day moving average of $66.56 and a 200-day moving average of $71.44. Bio-Techne has a one year low of $56.60 and a one year high of $85.57. The stock has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a PE ratio of 59.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,057,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 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.