Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) Receives $72.77 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.7692.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on TECH shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bio-Techne from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Evercore increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $52.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.54. Bio-Techne has a one year low of $46.01 and a one year high of $72.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $59.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a PE ratio of 103.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.48.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The company had revenue of $295.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Bio-Techne’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 62.75%.

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.