Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Friday, May 30th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $48.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of 49.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $49.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.91. 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 has a 1 year low of $46.01 and a 1 year high of $83.62.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.92 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. Bio-Techne's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 129.8% during the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 5,366,003 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $314,609,000 after acquiring an additional 3,030,644 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,301,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Bio-Techne by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $767,428,000 after buying an additional 1,229,954 shares during the last quarter. RGM Capital LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the first quarter worth approximately $59,267,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the first quarter worth approximately $39,658,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

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.

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