Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

TECH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 5.7 %

TECH opened at $51.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. Bio-Techne has a one year low of $50.35 and a one year high of $85.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.82.

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

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TECH. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Bio-Techne

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.