Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $72.70 and last traded at $72.70, with a volume of 2660 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair cut shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. TD Cowen cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.92.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 4.55, a quick ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.25 and a 200-day moving average of $61.97.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. The company had revenue of $321.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $314.63 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Increases Dividend

The business 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 boost 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%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the second quarter worth about $990,924,000. HBK Investments L P purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the second quarter valued at approximately $482,186,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 23.1% in the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,739,721 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $247,698,000 after buying an additional 888,798 shares during the last quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 131.4% in the 1st quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. now owns 3,392,001 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $177,266,000 after buying an additional 1,926,066 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2,426.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,827,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $129,095,000 after buying an additional 1,754,926 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation is a life sciences company that develops and supplies research, diagnostic and bioprocessing products for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, academic institutions, clinical laboratories and other healthcare organizations. Its portfolio supports research in areas such as cancer, immunology, neuroscience, cell biology and precision medicine.

The company provides proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, reagents, gene and cell therapy materials, and analytical instruments.