Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Acquired by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. boosted its position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,540 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 169,681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,222,000 after purchasing an additional 11,625 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 317.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 136,243 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,814,000 after purchasing an additional 103,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 25,032 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 3,631 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 2.3%

TECH stock opened at $51.42 on Wednesday. Bio-Techne Corp has a one year low of $46.01 and a one year high of $83.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.71, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.39. 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 (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.92 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.02%.

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

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.