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

Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.44.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TECH shares. Baird R W lowered Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $46.78 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.10 and a 200 day moving average of $64.62. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. Bio-Techne has a 12 month low of $46.01 and a 12 month high of $83.62.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $316.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.92 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.02%.

Bio-Techne announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the biotechnology company to buy up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CX Institutional bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the first quarter worth about $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. 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.