Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday. The company traded as high as $72.69 and last traded at $72.6350, with a volume of 2,591,160 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Stephens set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Bio-Techne from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.92.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.0%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.31. The firm has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a PE ratio of 63.15, a PEG ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 4.55, a quick ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. The company had revenue of $321.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $314.63 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 13.23%. Bio-Techne’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 24th. This is a boost from Bio-Techne’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TECH. S&CO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,412,000. HBK Investments L P purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the second quarter valued at about $482,186,000. American Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 8.5% in the first quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,021,128 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,364,000 after purchasing an additional 79,979 shares during the last quarter. Maven Securities LTD purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,865,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2,094.5% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 91,268 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,448,000 after purchasing an additional 87,109 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

Bio-Techne Corporation is a life sciences company that develops and supplies research and diagnostic products for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, academic, clinical and other laboratory customers. The company supports biological research, drug discovery and development, and diagnostic testing through a portfolio of reagents, instruments and analytical technologies.

Its products include proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, flow cytometry reagents, molecular biology tools and cell culture materials.