Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group cut their price target on Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Benchmark cut their price target on Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.44.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 5.8%

Shares of TECH stock traded down $2.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $46.66. 2,342,011 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,289,841. Bio-Techne has a 1 year low of $46.01 and a 1 year high of $83.96. The company's 50 day moving average is $52.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.03. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a PE ratio of 47.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. 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 prior year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 39.02%.

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

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TECH. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at $281,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at $268,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 944,327 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $55,366,000 after buying an additional 19,606 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,356 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 3,814 shares during the period. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at $306,000. 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.