Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Receives $82.14 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a 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 $82.14.

Several analysts have commented on TECH shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup reduced their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s 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 owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 12.2% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 261,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,934,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,794 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the period. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd now owns 323,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,817,000 after acquiring an additional 18,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,760 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,377,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $60.24 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.52. Bio-Techne has a fifty-two week low of $56.60 and a fifty-two week 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. The firm has a market cap of $9.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

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.