DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Boosts Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 161,904 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 13,525 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main owned approximately 0.10% of Bio-Techne worth $11,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% in 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. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 976 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on TECH. StockNews.com cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Benchmark decreased their target price 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. Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.44.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $47.83. 972,758 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,272,281. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.88. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $46.01 and a 52-week high of $85.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.33, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

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

Bio-Techne announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.