Toronto Dominion Bank Sells 23,993 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Toronto Dominion Bank reduced its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,837 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 23,993 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $4,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $89,724,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at approximately $20,071,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 8.2% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,862,260 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $205,081,000 after purchasing an additional 216,044 shares during the period. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 100.0% in the third quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,986,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $511,232,000 after buying an additional 95,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on TECH shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $75.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.61. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week 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.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 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.