Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.00.

TECH has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,339,370,000 after buying an additional 275,644 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Bio-Techne by 6.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,375,279 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $666,933,000 after acquiring an additional 721,012 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its position in Bio-Techne by 129.8% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 5,366,003 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $314,609,000 after acquiring an additional 3,030,644 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,702,942 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $338,756,000 after purchasing an additional 317,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,190,115 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $245,666,000 after purchasing an additional 369,651 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $54.14 on Friday. Bio-Techne has a 12-month low of $46.01 and a 12-month high of $83.62. The company has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 2.58. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $50.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.93.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

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.

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