Bio-Techne Stock Downgraded to Hold by Baird R W

On Wednesday morning, Baird R W announced a downgrade for Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating, according to reports by Zacks.com.

Other research analysts have also provided their insights on the stock recently. Scotiabank adjusted their price target for Bio-Techne shares from $88.00 to $90.00, designating it with a "sector outperform" rating in a research note dated February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada similarly raised their price target from $79.00 to $80.00 and assigned a "sector perform" rating on the same day. Another firm, StockNews.com, upgraded Bio-Techne from a "hold" to a "buy" rating in a report released on November 12th.

Moreover, Robert W. Baird's research report indicated a downgrade from "outperform" to "neutral" and reduced the price target significantly from $88.00 to $68.00. Additionally, KeyCorp has set a new price target of $90.00 for Bio-Techne, revising it from $80.00, while labeling the company's stock as "overweight" on February 6th. Overall, four research analysts have rated Bio-Techne as a hold, whereas five recommended a buy. According to MarketBeat.com, the consensus rating now stands at "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $84.29.

Bio-Techne Stock Price Movement

On the trading day of the downgrade, shares of Bio-Techne opened at $64.92. The biotech company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94, and a quick ratio of 2.77. As for its moving averages, the company has a 50-day average of $72.70 and a 200-day average of $73.43. Bio-Techne has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion and maintains a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.58, with a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.27. The stock hit a low of $61.16 and a high of $85.57 over the past year.

In their last quarterly earnings report on February 5th, Bio-Techne revealed earnings per share (EPS) of $0.35, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The company's return on equity was reported at 12.73%, while the net margin was noted at 13.22%. Analysts predict that Bio-Techne will record an EPS of 1.67 for the current fiscal year.

Dividend Information

Recently, Bio-Techne declared a quarterly dividend to be paid on February 28th. Shareholders recorded as of February 17th will receive a dividend of $0.08 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $0.32, which yields 0.49%. The ex-dividend date for this distribution was set for February 14th, and currently, the company’s payout ratio is at 32.32%.

Insider Transactions

In other recent activities, Bio-Techne's CEO, Kim Kelderman, sold 13,392 shares on January 27th at an average price of $77.29, totaling approximately $1,035,067.68. After this sale, Kelderman retains 39,004 shares valued at around $3,014,619.16, reflecting a decrease of 25.56% in his holdings. Additional insider trading occurred when Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares on February 14th at an average price of $65.96, amounting to $122,685.60, which resulted in a 48.49% reduction in her position as well. Insiders possess about 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors and Hedge Funds

There have also been recent adjustments in holdings by various institutional investors and hedge funds regarding Bio-Techne. For instance, Norges Bank acquired a new stake worth around $137,301,000 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holding in Bio-Techne by 13.1%, now owning 10,654,267 shares valued at $767,428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,954 shares. Other notable investments include Point72 Asset Management and Raymond James Financial, who made new stakes totaling $89,724,000 and $44,479,000 respectively. Select Equity Group L.P. also increased their holdings in Bio-Techne by 26.9% during the same quarter, bringing their total to 2,335,359 shares worth $168,216,000. Currently, institutional and hedge fund investors collectively own 98.95% of the company’s shares.

Company Overview

Bio-Techne Corporation focuses on developing, manufacturing, and selling life science reagents, instruments, and services in the research and clinical diagnostic markets across several regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Greater China, and Asia-Pacific.

Bio-Techne, Stocks, Ratings, Investment, Dividends