Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $81.78.

A number of research firms have commented on TECH. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of TECH stock traded up $1.72 on Tuesday, reaching $77.62. 541,092 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,016,175. Bio-Techne has a twelve month low of $55.63 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The company has a market capitalization of $12.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.74, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business's 50 day moving average price is $73.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.85.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. Bio-Techne's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 563.1% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 13,739 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $967,000 after purchasing an additional 11,667 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 20.2% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 200,662 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $14,125,000 after buying an additional 33,709 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 135.5% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,990 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,252,000 after purchasing an additional 18,404 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter worth approximately $569,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 20.4% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714,994 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $122,879,000 after purchasing an additional 290,510 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.