Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.5714.

TECH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI set a $62.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 109.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 453 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 68.1% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $32,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $65.25 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of 133.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 4.22. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.05. Bio-Techne has a 1 year low of $46.01 and a 1 year high of $79.28.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The firm had revenue of $286.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.02 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.59% and a net margin of 6.41%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.