Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH)

Key Points

• Traders purchased 10,003 put options on Bio‑Techne on Friday, roughly a 454% increase versus the stock's average daily put volume, signaling unusually large bearish/options-hedging activity.
• Analysts remain generally positive with a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating and recent price-target upgrades (e.g., Wells Fargo $76, UBS $79), and an average target of $72.77.
• Shares traded at $55.44 after a quarter that beat EPS estimates ($0.46 vs. $0.43) but showed a slight revenue decline; the stock carries a high P/E (~108.7), a 0.6% dividend yield, and about 99% institutional ownership.

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 10,003 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 454% compared to the average daily volume of 1,804 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TECH. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $79.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 target price on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $72.00 target price on Bio-Techne and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Bio-Techne from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.77.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $55.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 153,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,377,279. The company has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a PE ratio of 108.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 4.54, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.64 and a 200-day moving average of $59.76. Bio-Techne has a 52 week low of $46.01 and a 52 week high of $72.16.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 6.67%.The company had revenue of $295.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Bio-Techne's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 349.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,115,133 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $284,555,000 after acquiring an additional 3,978,026 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 164.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,012,818 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $235,994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,495,328 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth $99,494,000. Durable Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth $77,658,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,345,414 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $490,794,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107,536 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

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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