Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by Rice Hall James & Associates LLC

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC cut its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,024 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 214 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 92.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,755,065 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 20.4% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake 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 buying an additional 216,044 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.5% in the second 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 grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 9.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 894,352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $64,082,000 after buying an additional 76,641 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of TECH stock opened at $75.31 on Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $52.99 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The stock has a market cap of $11.95 billion, a PE ratio of 80.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average is $73.69 and its 200-day moving average is $74.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a current ratio of 4.56.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. The business had revenue of $306.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.49 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is 34.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Company 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.