Bio-Techne Corp $TECH Shares Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 27.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 12,013 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,468,000. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,710,000. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 69.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 174,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,717,000 after purchasing an additional 71,739 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,425,000. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 559,189 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,108,000 after acquiring an additional 37,200 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.5%

Bio-Techne stock opened at $47.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 4.49 and a quick ratio of 3.18. The company has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.52, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.41. Bio-Techne Corp has a one year low of $43.19 and a one year high of $72.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $52.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.03.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its 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). The business had revenue of $311.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $49.00 target price on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore set a $50.00 target price on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.92.

Bio-Techne 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.