Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Short Interest Update

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,080,000 shares, a growth of 28.6% from the January 31st total of 3,950,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on TECH shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $62.20 on Thursday. Bio-Techne has a one year low of $58.98 and a one year high of $85.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.89. The firm has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted 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 return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. Equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $312,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at $4,082,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 284.6% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,244 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,763,000 after acquiring an additional 38,661 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth $224,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.9% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 85,010 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,123,000 after acquiring an additional 32,173 shares during 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.