Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Hits New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $55.36 and last traded at $55.73, with a volume of 203836 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on TECH. KeyCorp increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $64.44 and its 200 day moving average is $70.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.24, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. On average, analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value of $1,035,067.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 32.9% during the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 3,070 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 249,350 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,961,000 after acquiring an additional 9,625 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,661,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $312,000. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

Bio-Techne Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells life science reagents, instruments, and services for the research and clinical diagnostic markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Greater China, rest of Asia-Pacific, and internationally.