Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $72.55, but opened at $79.28. Bio-Techne shares last traded at $77.26, with a volume of 402,167 shares changing hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.57.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.61 and its 200-day moving average is $74.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.80, a PEG ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. On average, research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $1,188,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after acquiring an additional 16,038 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 100.0% during the third quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,986,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 254,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $18,298,000 after purchasing an additional 25,650 shares during the period. 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.