Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Acquired by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 642,878 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,724 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $49,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.0% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,488 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.0% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 13,884 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth $1,985,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 47.6% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 27,517 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,873,000 after acquiring an additional 8,880 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ TECH opened at $63.52 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.58. The company has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a PE ratio of 46.03, a P/E/G ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 1.22. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $51.79 and a 1 year high of $89.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 4.37 and a quick ratio of 3.03.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 14.21%. The firm had revenue of $272.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $277.48 million. As a group, analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 26th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total value of $800,592.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,097 shares in the company, valued at $3,317,607.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on TECH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.90.

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.