Nicholas Company Inc. Grows Stock Position in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Nicholas Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 390,794 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 23,785 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $22,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TECH. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 349.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,115,133 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $284,555,000 after buying an additional 3,978,026 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 164.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,012,818 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $235,994,000 after buying an additional 2,495,328 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,658,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,037,806 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $113,363,000 after buying an additional 894,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,307,116 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $183,975,000 after buying an additional 807,147 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on TECH. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Bio-Techne from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Evercore set a $50.00 price target on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.77.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $48.36 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.54. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1-year low of $45.12 and a 1-year high of $72.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 4.49 and a quick ratio of 3.18.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $311.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.38%.

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.