Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Stock Lifted to Strong-Buy by Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Thursday,Zacks reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Bio-Techne from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Evercore lowered Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.92.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 0.1%

TECH stock opened at $72.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.30. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.28. Bio-Techne has a 1-year low of $43.19 and a 1-year high of $72.75.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The firm had revenue of $321.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $314.63 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 14.97%. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. Analysts expect that Bio-Techne will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 24th. This is a positive change from Bio-Techne’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 8.0% in the third quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth $2,889,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 30,935 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,242,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $752,000. Finally, Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

Bio-Techne Corporation is a life sciences company that develops and supplies research and diagnostic products for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, academic, clinical and other laboratory customers. The company supports biological research, drug discovery and development, and diagnostic testing through a portfolio of reagents, instruments and analytical technologies.

Its products include proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, flow cytometry reagents, molecular biology tools and cell culture materials.