Bessemer Group Inc. Has $1.16 Million Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 75.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,748 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 61,323 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 30,250.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:TECH traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $53.14. The stock had a trading volume of 843,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,449,478. The stock has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.80, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.39. The business's 50 day moving average is $49.83 and its 200 day moving average is $60.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 2.58. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $46.01 and a fifty-two week high of $83.62.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 39.02%.

Bio-Techne announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.