Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Acquires 94,469 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,109,658 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 94,469 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned about 0.71% of Bio-Techne worth $65,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 9,246 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1,710.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 28,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 26,943 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 269,186 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,834,000 after acquiring an additional 43,366 shares during the period. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 54.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,214 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $43.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 4.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.80. The stock has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.75, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.41. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52 week low of $43.19 and a 52 week high of $72.16.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.69 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 target price on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $62.00 price target on Bio-Techne and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.92.

Bio-Techne Company 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.