Bio-Techne Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:TECH)

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 10,205 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 788% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,149 call options.

Bio-Techne News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Merck KGaA will buy Bio-Techne for $73 per share in cash, a sizable premium to the prior trading price and a clear takeover price that is pulling the stock toward the deal value. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The acquisition should expand Merck’s life sciences, diagnostics, and bioprocessing footprint, and the buyer said it expects the deal to be accretive over time with meaningful cost synergies, which supports the strategic logic of the transaction. Article Title

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $71.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,576,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,036,105. The company has a market cap of $11.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 1.37. Bio-Techne has a 12-month low of $43.19 and a 12-month high of $72.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 4.49.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $311.42 million for 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 firm’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Bio-Techne will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is 46.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Techne

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 15,993.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,725 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 7,677 shares in the last quarter. Henshaw Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. Henshaw Capital LLC now owns 45,905 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,399,000 after acquiring an additional 10,915 shares during the last quarter. Summitry LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 6,013 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 879 shares during the period. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter worth $5,749,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at about $292,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on TECH. Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Evercore upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $62.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, William Blair lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.07.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

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.