Values First Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Values First Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,576 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 322 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne makes up about 1.2% of Values First Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1,427.8% during the 2nd 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 period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on TECH shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Bio-Techne from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.60.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $68.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.82 and its 200 day moving average is $74.42. The stock has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.26, a P/E/G ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1-year low of $51.79 and a 1-year high of $85.57. The company has a current ratio of 3.87, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $306.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.49 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 25.40%.

Bio-Techne Profile

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.