Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Farther Finance Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 75.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,624 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 5,035 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $93,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP increased its position in Bio-Techne by 1.8% during the first quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP now owns 23,108 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,355,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in Bio-Techne by 30,250.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 1,214 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 7,963 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 529.9% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,708 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 9,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter worth about $228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 3.8%

Bio-Techne stock traded up $1.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.89. The stock had a trading volume of 3,881,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,445,949. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $49.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.91. Bio-Techne Corp has a twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $83.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a current ratio of 3.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a PE ratio of 63.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.38.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.89%. The company had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.92 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.02%.

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.