Evercore ISI Begins Coverage on Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH)

Equities researchers at Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.85% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on TECH. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $62.58 on Tuesday. Bio-Techne has a twelve month low of $56.60 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The company has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $69.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.21.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of TECH. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 41.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 19,043 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,522,000 after purchasing an additional 5,601 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 38.5% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 756 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 6,647 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 22,959 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 1,718 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Bio-Techne by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 158,056 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,633,000 after purchasing an additional 16,328 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is 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.