Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Lowered to Neutral Rating by Robert W. Baird

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) was downgraded by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $68.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $88.00. Robert W. Baird’s price target suggests a potential upside of 4.15% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on TECH. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.29.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $65.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a PE ratio of 65.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In related news, 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 6.0% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.8% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 16,347 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 356,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,503,000 after purchasing an additional 8,457 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 8.4% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

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.