Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,066 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 695 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the second 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 last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $73.17 on Friday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $73.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, a PE ratio of 77.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. The company had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on TECH. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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 upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.00.

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.