Bio-Techne Corp $TECH Shares Bought by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 31.6% during the second quarter, owning 439,155 shares valued at approximately $22.6 million.
• Bio-Techne reported $0.53 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $0.50, with revenue rising by 3.6% year-over-year.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings on Bio-Techne, with price targets ranging from $65 to $75, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 31.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 439,155 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 105,371 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.28% of Bio-Techne worth $22,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TECH. CX Institutional purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,239.1% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 924 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the first quarter worth approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of TECH stock opened at $51.85 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Bio-Techne Corp has a twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $80.80. The company's 50-day moving average price is $53.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.58. The stock has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.72, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TECH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised Bio-Techne from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stephens upgraded shares of Bio-Techne to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.42.

About Bio-Techne

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.

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