Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $86.57.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TECH shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $67.44 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $74.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.12, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne has a one year low of $61.16 and a one year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,078 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,355.6% in the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 707.7% during the 4th quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 381,250 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,461,000 after acquiring an additional 334,050 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $287,488,000 after acquiring an additional 98,660 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

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.