Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Given New $80.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) had its price target lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.57.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH stock opened at $75.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.92 billion, a PE ratio of 79.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.37. Bio-Techne has a 12-month low of $61.16 and a 12-month high of $85.57. The company has a current ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly 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 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter valued at $564,000. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 32,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,566,000 after buying an additional 2,072 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,563 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 51.5% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently 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.