Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Trims Position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lessened its position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,136 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 6,995 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned about 0.08% of Bio-Techne worth $7,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Utah Retirement Systems boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 25,756 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,855,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.7% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 30,646 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 19,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.1% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,152 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 70,157 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,053,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on TECH. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Stephens upgraded shares of Bio-Techne to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.58.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of TECH traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,697,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,840,360. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1 year low of $46.01 and a 1 year high of $83.62. The firm has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of 71.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 2.58. The stock's 50 day moving average is $51.03 and its 200 day moving average is $57.70.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.02%.

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