Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 38,334 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia cut its Bio-Techne stake by 78.3%, selling 38,334 shares and retaining 10,637 shares valued at approximately $556,000. Institutional investors collectively own 98.95% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of “Hold”, with 13 Holds, three Buys and one Sell, and an average price target of $68.08.
• Bio-Techne shares opened at $72.03, near their 12-month high of $72.36, despite the company missing quarterly earnings and revenue estimates. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, representing a 0.4% yield.

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 78.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,637 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 38,334 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 5,752 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 6,052 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 3,986 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 7,300 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TECH shares. William Blair downgraded Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Evercore cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.08.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ TECH opened at $72.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12 month low of $43.19 and a 12 month high of $72.36. The stock has a market cap of $11.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.39, a PEG ratio of 8.58 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50 day moving average is $62.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.98.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.38%.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation NASDAQ: TECH is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.

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