Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,080,000 shares, a growth of 15.6% from the November 15th total of 3,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 927,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TECH. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 922.5% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TECH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.00.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH traded down $0.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.69. 487,423 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 947,043. The company has a current ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $12.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.52, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.61. Bio-Techne has a 1-year low of $61.16 and a 1-year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

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.