Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Reaches New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $70.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Bio-Techne traded as low as $58.98 and last traded at $60.12, with a volume of 1958641 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.19.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. 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. 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. 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction 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 hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TECH. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth $39,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $71.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.99. The company has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a PE ratio of 60.73, 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 current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.32%.

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.