Zions Bancorporation N.A. Buys 4,450 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,195 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,450 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Bio-Techne by 1,427.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $72.54 on Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $60.04 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.37. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

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 $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.