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

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 2,142,033 shares changed hands during mid-day 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. Evercore upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Leerink Partners set a $73.00 price objective on Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock 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 target price for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $62.00 target price on Bio-Techne and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.79.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.54, a PEG ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 1.37. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.22.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 506.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 673 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the period. 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.