Norges Bank Invests $99.49 Million in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Norges Bank bought a new position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,691,780 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,494,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.08% of Bio-Techne as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth about $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 506.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 673 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TECH. Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.17.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $51.99 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $52.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 4.49. The stock has a market cap of $8.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 1.37. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $43.19 and a fifty-two week high of $72.16.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.The company’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 46.38%.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.