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

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Sunday morning.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on TECH. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of TECH traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $51.54. The stock had a trading volume of 2,732,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,400,258. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.38. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The business had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $317.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

Bio-Techne declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CX Institutional bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.