Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)’s stock price hit 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Citigroup lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Bio-Techne from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.92.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.1%

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.50. The firm has a market cap of $11.38 billion, a PE ratio of 63.09, a PEG ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 3.35 and a current ratio of 4.55.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The company had revenue of $321.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $314.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.70 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of TECH. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the first quarter worth about $37,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. 98.95% of the stock is 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.