Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Stock

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) had its price target raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the biotechnology company's stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on TECH. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.57.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 4.0 %

Bio-Techne stock traded down $2.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $69.92. 2,919,693 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,208,140. Bio-Techne has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.63, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $74.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at $89,724,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,479,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $147,002,000 after acquiring an additional 354,478 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth approximately $20,071,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 8,079.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 242,525 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $17,469,000 after acquiring an additional 239,560 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.