Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC cut its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 40.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,854 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,273 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 563.1% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 13,739 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $967,000 after acquiring an additional 11,667 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 20.2% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 200,662 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,125,000 after purchasing an additional 33,709 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 135.5% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,990 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,252,000 after purchasing an additional 18,404 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter valued at $569,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $122,879,000 after buying an additional 290,510 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $77.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 4.56. The stock has a market cap of $12.31 billion, a PE ratio of 82.58, a P/E/G ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 1.28. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $55.63 and a 1 year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The business had revenue of $289.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TECH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.78.

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.