49,272 Shares in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Purchased by Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 49,272 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth about $137,301,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in 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 valued at $767,428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,954 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at $44,479,000. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,335,359 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $168,216,000 after acquiring an additional 495,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth $30,047,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ TECH traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $50.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,915,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,412,418. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $46.01 and a 12 month high of $83.62. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $49.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.03. The company has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.38. 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 (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $317.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 39.02%.

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