Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Cuts Stock Position in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 28.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,270 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 52,244 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $6,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,063,939 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,379,000 after acquiring an additional 113,634 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,356 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 3,814 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Bio-Techne by 506.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 673 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Bio-Techne by 1,085.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 105,418 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,424,000 after purchasing an additional 96,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 82.6% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 24,991 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 11,306 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.30. 2,938,721 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,987,221. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 103.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 4.49 and a quick ratio of 3.18. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12-month low of $43.19 and a 12-month high of $72.16. The business’s 50-day moving average is $55.88 and its 200-day moving average is $57.94.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TECH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 29th. Evercore cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Bio-Techne from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.08.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

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.