Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $49.00 to $73.00. The stock had previously closed at $58.88, but opened at $70.23. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Bio-Techne shares last traded at $70.2570, with a volume of 17,111,436 shares changing hands.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 price target on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $62.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research cut Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.07.

Bio-Techne News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Bio-Techne this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Merck KGaA’s all-cash buyout offer gives Bio-Techne shareholders a clear takeover price and a premium valuation anchor. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Agrees to Acquire Bio-Techne, Strengthening Leadership Position in Fast-Growing Life Sciences Markets
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst actions were mixed but included an upgrade from Evercore to strong-buy and a price-target increase from Baird to $73, reinforcing the view that the shares were moving toward deal value.
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusual call-option activity suggests traders are positioning for further merger-related volatility, but that activity does not change the takeover terms.
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder-law-firm investigations have begun over whether the Merck deal provides a fair price, which could add some headline risk and scrutiny around the transaction. SHAREHOLDER ALERT: The M&A Class Action Firm Announces An Investigation of Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH)

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 5,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 6,052 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 3.4% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.90, a PEG ratio of 6.85 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $52.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.09.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $311.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. Analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.38%.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

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.