New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Sells 15,168 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Bio-Techne Corp by 38.2% during the first quarter, selling 15,168 shares and now owning 24,588 shares worth approximately $1.44 million.
• Bio-Techne reported earnings of $0.53 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, and saw a revenue increase of 3.6% compared to the previous year, totaling $316.96 million.
• The company's Board of Directors authorized a $500 million share repurchase plan, indicating management's belief that its stock is currently undervalued.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC decreased its position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 38.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,588 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 15,168 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Bio-Techne by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,932 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,665 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,497,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 146,717 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $10,571,000 after purchasing an additional 9,067 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,820,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $275,188,000 after purchasing an additional 358,756 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 3.3%

NASDAQ TECH traded up $1.67 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.82. The stock had a trading volume of 558,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,051,720. The company's 50-day moving average price is $52.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.74. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12 month low of $46.01 and a 12 month high of $80.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.46. The company has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a PE ratio of 112.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.40.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firm had revenue of $316.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $315.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is 69.57%.

Bio-Techne declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the biotechnology company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on TECH. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.42.

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.