OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Acquires 1,091 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 142,365 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $10,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,078 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 7.9%

Shares of TECH stock opened at $53.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.10. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $46.01 and a one year high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $316.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $317.92 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biotechnology company to purchase up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 39.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TECH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Benchmark reduced their target price on Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.44.

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.