Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 836 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,378 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 836 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $5,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 92.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,746,119 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $404,470,000 after purchasing an additional 2,755,065 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $122,879,000 after purchasing an additional 290,510 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,862,260 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $205,081,000 after buying an additional 216,044 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Bio-Techne by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,589,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $185,559,000 after buying an additional 88,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 894,352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $64,082,000 after buying an additional 76,641 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $72.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of 77.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.28. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $60.04 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.37.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of 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. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of 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 shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.78.

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.