Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 354,561 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 49,078 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $20,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 349.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,115,133 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $284,555,000 after buying an additional 3,978,026 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 164.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,012,818 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $235,994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,495,328 shares in the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth $77,658,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,037,806 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $113,363,000 after acquiring an additional 894,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 32.3% in the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,307,116 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $183,975,000 after purchasing an additional 807,147 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 6.5%

NASDAQ TECH opened at $55.32 on Friday. Bio-Techne Corp has a one year low of $46.05 and a one year high of $72.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a PE ratio of 108.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.49.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $295.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 16th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 62.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price target on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 price objective on Bio-Techne and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Bio-Techne from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.77.

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.