Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Lowered to "Neutral" Rating by Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $68.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock, down from their previous price target of $88.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on TECH. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.29.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ TECH traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $64.90. 1,479,949 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,323,033. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne has a 12-month low of $61.16 and a 12-month high of $85.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $72.91 and a 200 day moving average of $73.52.

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 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % 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, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.