Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) PT Lowered to $82.00 at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $85.00 to $82.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the biotechnology company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut Bio-Techne from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Stephens dropped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 8th. They issued a sector outperform rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $83.90.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

TECH stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $62.21. 1,174,667 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,071,694. The company has a market cap of $9.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's 50 day moving average is $70.61 and its 200 day moving average is $68.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 4.37 and a quick ratio of 3.03. Bio-Techne has a 12-month low of $51.79 and a 12-month high of $89.91.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $272.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $277.48 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 14.21%. On average, research analysts expect that Bio-Techne will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.19%.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

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 owns 43,097 shares in the company, valued at $3,317,607.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.45% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Bio-Techne by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,994,625 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,186,641,000 after acquiring an additional 105,985 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in Bio-Techne by 382.9% during the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 7,153,947 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $592,919,000 after purchasing an additional 5,672,587 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Bio-Techne by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,414,193 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $523,591,000 after purchasing an additional 136,127 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Bio-Techne by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,445,265 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,924,978,000 after purchasing an additional 18,627 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,741,171 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $277,019,000 after acquiring an additional 65,432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.