Northern Trust Corp Sells 43,995 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,617,959 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 43,995 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.02% of Bio-Techne worth $94,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 104.8% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 953,786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,705,000 after acquiring an additional 53,217 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 41,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 193.0% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,823 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 7,129 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 5.7%

TECH opened at $57.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $8.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.11, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.40. Bio-Techne Corp has a twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $80.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.65.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $316.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.14 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 69.57%.

Bio-Techne declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.42.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

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.