Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 16,579 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,188,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at $941,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at $216,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at $741,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,250,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 28,038 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 3,559 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.4 %

TECH traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $72.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 930,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,073,217. The business’s 50-day moving average is $75.14 and its 200-day moving average is $73.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 3.87 and a quick ratio of 2.75. The stock has a market cap of $11.45 billion, a PE ratio of 57.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 1.29. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.79 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company had revenue of $306.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. Bio-Techne’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.60.

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.