Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Acquired by Quantinno Capital Management LP

Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 57.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 104,860 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 38,376 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $7,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TECH. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 261,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,934,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 34,451 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after acquiring an additional 16,038 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.44.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $48.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of 48.73, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $53.65 and a 200 day moving average of $65.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $46.01 and a one year high of $84.61.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The business had revenue of $316.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 39.02%.

Bio-Techne 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.