Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.0714.

TECH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $62.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Leerink Partners set a $73.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $73.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday. William Blair downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 506.3% in the second 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $71.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 4.49. The company has a market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.90, a PEG ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.09. Bio-Techne has a 1 year low of $43.19 and a 1 year high of $72.16.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is currently 46.38%.

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)

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.