Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 9,722 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Bessemer Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 13.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,962 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 9,722 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at $11,468,000. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,023,000. Nicholas Company Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 390,794 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $22,983,000 after acquiring an additional 23,785 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 316.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 703,477 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,373,000 after acquiring an additional 534,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 105,481 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,203,000 after purchasing an additional 38,031 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $71.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1 year low of $43.19 and a 1 year high of $72.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.84 and a 200-day moving average of $58.56.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $311.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on TECH shares. Stephens set a $73.00 target price on Bio-Techne and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 target price on Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.08.

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.