Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $46.43 and last traded at $46.97, with a volume of 89433 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $48.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.14.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a PE ratio of 46.80, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. Equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,339,370,000 after purchasing an additional 275,644 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $767,428,000 after buying an additional 1,229,954 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,702,942 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $338,756,000 after buying an additional 317,349 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $287,488,000 after acquiring an additional 98,660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,820,464 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $275,188,000 after acquiring an additional 358,756 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

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.