Balentine LLC Purchases New Shares in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Balentine LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,727 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $442,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,305,826 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $225,028,000 after purchasing an additional 143,716 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,399,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $185,132,000 after buying an additional 70,294 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,880,812 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $128,027,000 after buying an additional 241,771 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,627,073 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $110,755,000 after buying an additional 38,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at $119,771,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $82.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.03 billion, a PE ratio of 65.62, a PEG ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 1.23. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $51.79 and a 12 month high of $89.91. The company has a current ratio of 4.08, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.38.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $303.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.36 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 17.59%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Stephens reduced their price target on Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total value of $800,592.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,317,607.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

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.