Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 35,059 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 17.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,801 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 35,059 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Bio-Techne worth $9,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 109.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 453 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 68.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 506.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 673 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $72.00 price objective on Bio-Techne and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.77.

Key Stories Impacting Bio-Techne

Here are the key news stories impacting Bio-Techne this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded TECH from “strong sell” to “hold,” which reduces near-term sell-side pressure and could stabilize flows. Zacks Research Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Bio-Techne announced an orderly leadership transition: Dr. Matt McManus will step down as President of Diagnostics & Spatial Biology (effective March 1) and Steve Crouse is appointed to the role — management frames this as a planned, internal succession that should limit disruption. Bio-Techne Announces Changes to its Leadership Team
• Neutral Sentiment: Conflicting/erroneous short-interest reports showed a “large increase” but with zero shares / NaN values — this appears to be a data/reporting anomaly rather than meaningful new bearish positioning; monitor for corrected filings.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street analyst coverage remains mixed-to-cautiously-positive: recent write-ups show analysts keeping moderate upside targets despite the stock’s underperformance over 52 weeks. Wall Street Analysts’ Target Prices
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results and the ensuing commentary appear to be the main negative driver: while EPS slightly beat consensus, revenue was down year-over-year and analysts raised pointed questions on the earnings call — that combination keeps valuation (high P/E) and growth concerns front-and-center for investors. There May Be Reason For Hope In Bio-Techne’s Disappointing Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Follow-up coverage highlighted five analyst questions from the Q4 call, signaling that investors are focused on execution, margin recovery and revenue growth — unresolved answers can sustain selling pressure. 5 Insightful Analyst Questions From Bio-Techne’s Q4 Earnings Call
• Neutral Sentiment: Unrelated press from another biotech (CMB.TECH) circulated in feeds; not relevant to Bio-Techne fundamentals. CMB.TECH Q4 Release

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $59.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $63.29 and its 200-day moving average is $59.56. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $72.16. The company has a current ratio of 4.54, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.48.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $295.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.20 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 62.75%.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.