Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Bought by Geneva Capital Management LLC

Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,080,013 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the period. Bio-Techne makes up approximately 1.3% of Geneva Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Geneva Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.69% of Bio-Techne worth $76,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 831.4% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 46,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,565,000 after purchasing an additional 41,244 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 734,105 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,646,000 after acquiring an additional 118,534 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 856,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $66,089,000 after acquiring an additional 119,295 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Bio-Techne by 55.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 261,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,166,000 after acquiring an additional 93,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 135,632 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,465,000 after purchasing an additional 11,947 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock traded up $4.30 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $76.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,118,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,088,188. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a current ratio of 4.08. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $51.79 and a one year high of $89.91. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.79. The stock has a market cap of $12.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.42 and a beta of 1.29.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $303.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.36 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 17.59%. Bio-Techne’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Bio-Techne from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup downgraded Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.00.

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.