Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Hits New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Bio-Techne shares reached a new 52-week high of $72.69, with the stock trading near $72.64 and a market capitalization of approximately $11.39 billion.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: two analysts rate the stock a Buy while 15 rate it a Hold, resulting in a consensus Hold rating and a $68.92 price target—below its current price.
• The company met quarterly EPS expectations at $0.52 and exceeded revenue estimates with $321.19 million, while revenue rose 1.3% year over year. Bio-Techne also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.65 per share, equivalent to a 3.6% yield.

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $72.69 and last traded at $72.6350, with a volume of 2,591,160 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $72.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on TECH shares. Citigroup lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Leerink Partners set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Bio-Techne from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $73.00 in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $73.00 in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.92.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.0%

The business's 50 day moving average is $72.41 and its 200-day moving average is $64.31. The firm has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 3.35, a current ratio of 4.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52. The company had revenue of $321.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $314.63 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 14.97%. Bio-Techne's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 24th. This is a boost from Bio-Techne's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,072 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,006,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 31.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 5,408 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 10.8% in the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 3,381 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

Bio-Techne Corporation is a life sciences company that develops and supplies research and diagnostic products for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, academic, clinical and other laboratory customers. The company supports biological research, drug discovery and development, and diagnostic testing through a portfolio of reagents, instruments and analytical technologies.

Its products include proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, flow cytometry reagents, molecular biology tools and cell culture materials.

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