Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Holdings in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 18.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,259 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,614 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Gagnon Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 13.8% during the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 8,943 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 3.5% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,071,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,806,000 after buying an additional 36,623 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 3.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,511,260 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $88,605,000 after buying an additional 45,570 shares during the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the first quarter valued at approximately $150,000. Finally, Broadcrest Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 50.0% in the first quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 150,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,794,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of TECH stock opened at $53.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The company has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.52, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.41. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $80.95.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firm had revenue of $316.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.57%.

Bio-Techne announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TECH shares. TD Cowen started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Friday, May 30th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.42.

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.