Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Evercore

Evercore cut shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on TECH. 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $73.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $62.00 price objective on Bio-Techne and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.79.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of TECH traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $70.78. The company had a trading volume of 606,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,406,683. The stock has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.69, a PEG ratio of 8.44 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.56. The company has a quick ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 4.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Bio-Techne has a 52 week low of $43.19 and a 52 week high of $72.16.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The firm had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. Bio-Techne’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 46.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $11,468,000. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 69.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 174,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,717,000 after purchasing an additional 71,739 shares during the last quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,023,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $2,428,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 316.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 703,477 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,373,000 after buying an additional 534,676 shares in the last quarter. 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.