Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

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

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on TECH. 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. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH traded down $1.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $62.90. 2,469,305 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,043,721. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $70.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.68. Bio-Techne has a 52-week low of $58.88 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 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 expect that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.