Aberdeen Group plc Has $5.49 Million Stake in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 106.7%, now holding 94,392 shares worth $5.49 million.
• Bio-Techne announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.6%.
• Bio-Techne's latest earnings report showed a 3.6% year-over-year revenue increase and EPS of $0.53, exceeding analyst estimates.

Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 106.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 94,392 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 48,730 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.06% of Bio-Techne worth $5,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 13.1% in 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 last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the first quarter valued at about $39,658,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 45.7% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,912,377 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $112,123,000 after buying an additional 599,982 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,335,359 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $168,216,000 after buying an additional 495,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 18.5% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,025,409 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $177,380,000 after buying an additional 472,847 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Friday, May 30th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.42.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $54.33 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $80.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $52.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.03.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $316.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $315.14 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.43%. Bio-Techne's revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is 69.57%.

Bio-Techne announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bio-Techne Company 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.

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.