Millennium Management LLC Has $47.24 Million Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Millennium Management LLC reduced its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 49.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 655,791 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 636,150 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.41% of Bio-Techne worth $47,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TECH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,301,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $767,428,000 after buying an additional 1,229,954 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth $44,479,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,047,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,820,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $275,188,000 after acquiring an additional 358,756 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on TECH shares. UBS Group dropped 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 note on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.44.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

TECH traded up $0.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $47.47. 470,983 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,286,749. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $45.44 and a twelve month high of $83.96. The company has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.92, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. The company had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 39.02%.

Bio-Techne announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.