Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. Baird R W downgraded Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.44.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of TECH traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.15. 1,615,986 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,277,231. Bio-Techne has a 1 year low of $46.01 and a 1 year high of $84.22. The firm's fifty day moving average is $53.46 and its 200-day moving average is $65.45. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.02%.

Bio-Techne declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CX Institutional purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.