Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Acquired by Select Equity Group L.P.

Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,335,359 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 495,404 shares during the quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. owned approximately 1.47% of Bio-Techne worth $168,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,355.6% in the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TECH has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup cut their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $73.44.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ TECH traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $49.53. The company had a trading volume of 1,852,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,283,833. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.01 and a fifty-two week high of $83.96. The company has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The firm's 50 day moving average is $53.04 and its 200 day moving average is $65.15.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.02%.

Bio-Techne declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the biotechnology company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bio-Techne Profile

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.