Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Position Reduced by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,580,802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 8,997 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $206,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TECH. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 6.2% during the first quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,185 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,333 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on TECH. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of TECH stock opened at $71.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.83, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 4.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.28. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $61.16 and a twelve month high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. Bio-Techne’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 34.04%.

About Bio-Techne

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.