Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Zacks Research lowered shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird set a $49.00 price target on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bio-Techne from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore set a $50.00 price target on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 price target on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.17.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $54.41 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.08 and a 200 day moving average of $57.51. Bio-Techne has a 12 month low of $43.19 and a 12 month high of $72.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 4.49 and a quick ratio of 3.18.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The firm had revenue of $311.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,063,939 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $62,379,000 after acquiring an additional 113,634 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,356 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 3,814 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 506.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 673 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,085.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 105,418 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,424,000 after acquiring an additional 96,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 82.6% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 24,991 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 11,306 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Bio-Techne

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.