Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $72.62 and last traded at $72.6550, with a volume of 2053544 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on TECH. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Bio-Techne from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $62.00 to $73.00 in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research raised Bio-Techne from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Leerink Partners set a $73.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, June 25th. William Blair lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Bio-Techne from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.92.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $72.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.22. The firm has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 3.35 and a current ratio of 4.55.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The business had revenue of $321.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $314.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from Bio-Techne’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 24th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HBK Investments L P purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $482,186,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,750,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,105,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at $244,000. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at $239,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is a global life sciences company that develops and supplies research, diagnostic and bioprocessing products. Its portfolio includes proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, molecular biology reagents, cell and gene therapy tools, and instruments used by academic, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostic laboratories.

The company operates through brands including R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics. Its products support applications such as protein analysis, spatial biology, single-cell research, biomarker discovery, drug development and the manufacture of cell and gene therapies.