Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 16,600 Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,177,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 506.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 673 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $72.35 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 4.55, a quick ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12-month low of $43.19 and a 12-month high of $72.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.91, a P/E/G ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $70.86 and its 200 day moving average is $59.71.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. The business had revenue of $321.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $314.63 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. This is an increase from Bio-Techne’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on TECH. Zacks Research raised Bio-Techne from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 price target on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Bio-Techne from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Bio-Techne from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $73.00 in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Evercore lowered Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.92.

About Bio-Techne

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.