Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 2,142,033 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 34% from the previous session’s volume of 3,269,894 shares.The stock last traded at $70.7760 and had previously closed at $70.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TECH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $73.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday. Evercore upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Stephens set a $73.00 target price on Bio-Techne and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.79.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 4.49 and a quick ratio of 3.18. The company has a market capitalization of $11.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.65, a P/E/G ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $53.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.38.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.The company had revenue of $311.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is 46.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,468,000. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Bio-Techne by 69.7% during the third quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 174,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,717,000 after purchasing an additional 71,739 shares in the last quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,023,000. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 7.1% during the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 559,189 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,108,000 after purchasing an additional 37,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth $2,428,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

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.