Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases 2,755,065 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 92.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,746,119 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,755,065 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 3.65% of Bio-Techne worth $404,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.6% in the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 90,415 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the first quarter worth about $1,607,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 8.2% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 58,798 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,140,000 after acquiring an additional 4,457 shares in the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 44.6% in the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 7,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 117.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 40,776 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,870,000 after acquiring an additional 22,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 1.6 %

TECH traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $79.29. 230,099 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,062,702. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $76.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.99. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1-year low of $51.79 and a 1-year high of $85.85. The company has a current ratio of 4.08, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a PE ratio of 63.97, a PEG ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 1.29.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 17.59%. The company had revenue of $303.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Bio-Techne’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Bio-Techne from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

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.