13,589 Shares in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) Acquired by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 13,589 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $797,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,339,370,000 after acquiring an additional 275,644 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $767,428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,954 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,702,942 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $338,756,000 after purchasing an additional 317,349 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $287,488,000 after purchasing an additional 98,660 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,820,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $275,188,000 after purchasing an additional 358,756 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Friday, May 30th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of 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 reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ:TECH traded down $0.96 on Friday, reaching $51.84. The stock had a trading volume of 2,486,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,441,809. The company has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $83.62. The company has a quick ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 13.17%. 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 business earned $0.48 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 39.02%.

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.