First Trust Advisors LP Grows Holdings in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 2,874.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,281,792 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,238,705 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $66,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TECH. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 5,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 6,052 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Bio-Techne by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC grew its position in Bio-Techne by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 3,986 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 0.2%

TECH stock opened at $71.60 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.82. The company has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.77, a PEG ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.29. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12-month low of $43.19 and a 12-month high of $72.16. The company has a quick ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 4.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given 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 (DPR) is presently 46.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. William Blair downgraded Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.