Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Here's What Happened

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $58.20 and last traded at $58.47, with a volume of 3067751 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on TECH shares. Robert W. Baird cut Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.14.

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Bio-Techne Stock Down 7.0 %

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $70.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.62. The firm has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.06, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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 return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. Research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 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 firm'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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $778,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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