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

Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $68.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $88.00.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.29.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $64.92 on Wednesday. Bio-Techne has a twelve month low of $61.16 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.70 and a 200-day moving average of $73.43. The firm has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. Analysts forecast that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 98.95% of the stock is 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.