Woodline Partners LP Makes New Investment in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,542 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Bio-Techne by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 43,144 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,108,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 0.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. 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 for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Baird R W downgraded Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.44.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $46.78 on Tuesday. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $83.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.25. The company has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.25, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.02%.

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

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.