Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Short Interest Up 19.0% in March

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,270,000 shares, a growth of 19.0% from the February 28th total of 5,270,000 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,460,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $58.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.97, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.12. Bio-Techne has a 12 month low of $56.60 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. As a group, analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TECH. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its position 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 valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 46.4% in 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 increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% during 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 during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.