Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 20,169 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 13.7% in the first quarter, owning 166,886 shares valued at approximately $9.79 million.
• Several analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Bio-Techne's shares, with Stifel Nicolaus lowering it from $75 to $60, and UBS reducing it from $95 to $70.
• Bio-Techne has authorized a $500 million share repurchase program, signaling that management believes the shares are undervalued.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 13.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,886 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,169 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.11% of Bio-Techne worth $9,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TECH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $767,428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,954 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,658,000. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 45.7% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,912,377 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $112,123,000 after acquiring an additional 599,982 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,335,359 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $168,216,000 after acquiring an additional 495,404 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,025,409 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $177,380,000 after acquiring an additional 472,847 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens raised shares of Bio-Techne to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of 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, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.42.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 5.7%

Shares of Bio-Techne stock traded up $3.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,442,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,218,878. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $53.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.51. The company has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a PE ratio of 124.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.40. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52 week low of $46.01 and a 52 week high of $80.95.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $316.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. Equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.57%.

Bio-Techne announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the biotechnology company to purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are 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.