BNP Paribas Financial Markets Increases Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 61.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 281,747 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 107,667 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.18% of Bio-Techne worth $20,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Bio-Techne by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 43,144 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,108,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $49.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a PE ratio of 50.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $54.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.24.

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, 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 firm 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 posted $0.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the biotechnology company to buy up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $73.44.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TECH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.