Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Short Interest Up 28.6% in February

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,080,000 shares, a growth of 28.6% from the January 31st total of 3,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $61.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.09. Bio-Techne has a fifty-two week low of $60.39 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The firm has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. Sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Baird R W downgraded Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, 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 Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 4.1% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

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.