Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Sets New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Bio-Techne shares reached a new 52-week high of $72.16, trading above both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the consensus rating is “Hold” with an average price target of $68.08, below the stock’s current level. The shares also carry a high P/E ratio of 104.48.
• The latest quarter fell slightly short of expectations, with EPS of $0.53 versus $0.55 expected and revenue down 1.5% year over year. Bio-Techne pays a quarterly dividend of $0.08, yielding approximately 0.4%.

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $72.16 and last traded at $72.1120, with a volume of 5289983 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $71.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on TECH. Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 price target on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Benchmark lowered Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Evercore downgraded Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $68.08.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.7%

The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $61.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 4.49 and a quick ratio of 3.18. The firm has a market cap of $11.29 billion, a PE ratio of 104.48, a PEG ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.29.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The business had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $316.11 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 46.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 506.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 673 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation NASDAQ: TECH is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.

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