KBC Group NV Has $788,000 Position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

KBC Group NV lessened its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 29.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,442 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 5,601 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during 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 in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 43,144 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 25,756 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 19,078 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,137 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

TECH opened at $53.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.80, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.94 and a 200 day moving average of $59.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a current ratio of 3.71. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $46.01 and a fifty-two week high of $83.62.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $316.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.92 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.02%.

Bio-Techne declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the biotechnology company to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.00.

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.