Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Stock Price Down 6.9% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) traded down 6.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $58.92 and last traded at $58.55. 819,209 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 1,043,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 7.0 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The company has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 59.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,650 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,295 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after buying an additional 16,038 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth about $1,188,000. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 100.0% in the third quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,986,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells life science reagents, instruments, and services for the research and clinical diagnostic markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Greater China, rest of Asia-Pacific, and internationally.