StockNews.com Upgrades Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) to Buy

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ TECH traded down $3.14 on Friday, hitting $51.72. 2,931,895 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,132,255. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.44 and a 200-day moving average of $70.85. The stock has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne has a 52 week low of $50.34 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. Analysts expect that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 3,070 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.1% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 249,350 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,961,000 after acquiring an additional 9,625 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $3,661,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth about $312,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

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.