Eagle Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 299,707 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 9,130 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $22,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 922.5% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth about $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 1,427.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TECH shares. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $71.28 on Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.28. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a PE ratio of 75.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.28.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $289.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. Bio-Techne’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

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.