Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 299,707 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 9,130 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Bio-Techne worth $22,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TECH. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 6.2% during the first quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,185 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 3.9% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,333 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 12.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 51.5% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on TECH shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $71.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week high of $85.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.28. The company has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.28.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. The business had revenue of $289.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.04%.

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.