Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Gap Up to $63.21

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $63.21, but opened at $70.54. Bio-Techne shares last traded at $76.32, with a volume of 655,489 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on TECH. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 8th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.90.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $69.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 4.37. The company has a market cap of $11.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.17, a P/E/G ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.22.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $272.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $277.48 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 19.58%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 26th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total transaction of $800,592.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,097 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,317,607.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the first quarter worth about $38,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 521 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

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.