Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.9231.

TECH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, June 26th. Stephens set a $73.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 25th.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $72.40 on Monday. Bio-Techne has a 1 year low of $43.19 and a 1 year high of $72.43. The company has a current ratio of 4.55, a quick ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.96, a PEG ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $67.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.26.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 14.97%.The company had revenue of $321.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $314.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Bio-Techne’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Bio-Techne’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TECH. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

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.