Rafferty Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Rafferty Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 28.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,638 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 5,894 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TECH. CX Institutional purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,239.1% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 924 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter worth $69,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $54.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.76, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Bio-Techne Corp has a twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $80.95.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.57%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens upgraded Bio-Techne to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Friday, May 30th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank cut their price target on Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.42.

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.