UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Boosts Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 924,721 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 170,377 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $66,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 43,144 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne 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 Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $46.01 and a one year high of $83.62. The firm has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 47.25, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.10 and a 200 day moving average of $64.54. 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 (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The business had revenue of $316.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 39.02%.

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.