Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH – Get Rating) saw a large decline in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,200,000 shares, a decline of 19.1% from the January 31st total of 2,720,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 958,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Techne news, SVP Brenda S. Furlow sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $65,608.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 26,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,139,804.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 305.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 488.2% in the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Ellevest Inc. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 176.9% in the fourth quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 479 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 23.92% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.8 %

TECH opened at $78.24 on Friday. Bio-Techne has a one year low of $68.00 and a one year high of $113.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.30 billion, a PE ratio of 48.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $79.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a current ratio of 4.40.

Bio-Techne Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This is a boost from Bio-Techne’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bio-Techne from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $111.50 to $99.00 in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.36.

About Bio-Techne

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Bio-Techne Corp. engages in the development, manufacture and sale of biotechnology reagents and instruments for the research and clinical diagnostic markets. It operates through the following segments: Protein Sciences and Diagnostics and Genomics. The Protein Sciences segment develops and manufactures purified proteins and reagent solutions most notably cytokines and growth factors, antibodies, immunoassays, biologically active small molecule compounds, tissue culture reagents and T-Cell activation technologies.