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

Shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.4167.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Friday, May 30th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen began coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Stephens upgraded Bio-Techne to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.6%

TECH stock opened at $54.63 on Monday. Bio-Techne has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $80.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The company has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.76, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.05.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 6.02%.The business had revenue of $316.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.57%.

Bio-Techne declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the biotechnology company to purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 6.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,375,279 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $666,933,000 after buying an additional 721,012 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 129.8% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 5,366,003 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $314,609,000 after buying an additional 3,030,644 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,702,942 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $338,756,000 after buying an additional 317,349 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 9.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,190,115 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $245,666,000 after buying an additional 369,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 18.5% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,025,409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $177,380,000 after buying an additional 472,847 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.