Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $72.16 and last traded at $72.1120, with a volume of 5289983 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on TECH. Citigroup cut Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $70.00 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $73.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, William Blair lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.08.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $11.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.48, a P/E/G ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.84.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.38%.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.