Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $72.81, but opened at $71.33. Bio-Techne shares last traded at $68.40, with a volume of 355,698 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.57.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.31 and its 200 day moving average is $74.15. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.03, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 38,728 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 8,533 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 525,009 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,816,000 after buying an additional 47,129 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 152,554 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,988,000 after buying an additional 57,299 shares during the last quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC now owns 308,311 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $22,208,000 after acquiring an additional 50,881 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,339,370,000 after acquiring an additional 275,644 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Bio-Techne

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.