Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Evercore

Evercore upgraded shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on TECH. Robert W. Baird set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bio-Techne from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. William Blair lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $73.00 price objective on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.79.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 20.1%

NASDAQ TECH opened at $70.70 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 4.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Bio-Techne has a 52 week low of $43.19 and a 52 week high of $72.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.47, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.99.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.38%.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 349.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,115,133 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $284,555,000 after purchasing an additional 3,978,026 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Bio-Techne by 164.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,012,818 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $235,994,000 after purchasing an additional 2,495,328 shares in the last quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 131.4% during the 1st quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. now owns 3,392,001 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $177,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,926,066 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth $99,494,000. Finally, Durable Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth $77,658,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Bio-Techne

Here are the key news stories impacting Bio-Techne this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Merck KGaA’s $73-per-share cash offer provides a large takeover premium and a valuation floor for Bio-Techne, which is the main reason the stock is higher. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The acquisition could create strategic and financial upside for Merck, including expected cost synergies, which supports confidence that the transaction is serious and likely to proceed. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Law firms have launched shareholder investigations into whether Bio-Techne’s board obtained a fair price in the sale, which could create some deal-related noise but does not change the announced terms yet. Article Title

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.