Baird Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group cut its Bio-Techne stake by 54.2% in the second quarter, selling 36,240 shares and retaining 30,629 shares valued at approximately $2.16 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 98.95%, with BlackRock initiating a position worth about $991 million and several other major investors increasing their holdings.
• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $68.92, below the stock’s reported $72.41 price; Bio-Techne met quarterly EPS expectations and exceeded revenue estimates.

Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 54.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,629 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 36,240 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $990,924,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 23.1% in the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,739,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $247,698,000 after buying an additional 888,798 shares during the last quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 131.4% in the first quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. now owns 3,392,001 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $177,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,926,066 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,398,265 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $141,042,000 after acquiring an additional 688,603 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 10.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,973,136 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $103,118,000 after acquiring an additional 178,843 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TECH. Zacks Research raised shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Citigroup downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Bio-Techne from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $62.00 to $73.00 in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $68.92.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $72.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 4.55 and a quick ratio of 3.35. The firm has a market cap of $11.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $72.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.01. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1-year low of $43.19 and a 1-year high of $72.62.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52. The company had revenue of $321.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $314.63 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 13.23%. Bio-Techne's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is an increase from Bio-Techne's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 24th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation NASDAQ: TECH is a global life sciences company that develops and supplies research, diagnostic and bioprocessing products. Its portfolio includes proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, molecular biology reagents, cell and gene therapy tools, and instruments used by academic, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostic laboratories.

The company operates through brands including R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics. Its products support applications such as protein analysis, spatial biology, single-cell research, biomarker discovery, drug development and the manufacture of cell and gene therapies.

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