Pacific Center for Financial Services Sells 424 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Pacific Center for Financial Services reduced its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 22.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,476 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 424 shares during the period. Pacific Center for Financial Services’ holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of 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. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,355.6% during the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

TECH stock opened at $46.66 on Thursday. 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 52 week low of $46.01 and a 52 week high of $83.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.73 and its 200 day moving average is $65.03. The firm has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Bio-Techne announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the biotechnology company to buy up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on TECH shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.44.

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.