StockNews.com Upgrades Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

TECH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.25.

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Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.5 %

Bio-Techne stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.62. 813,568 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,070,730. The company has a fifty day moving average of $68.40 and a 200-day moving average of $71.97. The company has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne has a twelve month low of $56.60 and a twelve month high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. Sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

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 yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,339,370,000 after acquiring an additional 275,644 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $767,428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,954 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $511,232,000 after purchasing an additional 95,133 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Bio-Techne by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,702,942 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $338,756,000 after purchasing an additional 317,349 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $287,488,000 after buying an additional 98,660 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

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.