Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 91,254 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 13.2%, selling 91,254 shares and holding approximately 0.38% of the company now valued at $35.26 million.
• Bio-Techne announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.6% and a payout ratio of 69.57%.
• Despite recent reductions in holdings by some institutional investors, Bio-Techne's shares have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $69.42.

Baird Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 13.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 601,336 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 91,254 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.38% of Bio-Techne worth $35,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RGM Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the first quarter worth about $59,267,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,375,279 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $666,933,000 after buying an additional 721,012 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the first quarter worth about $39,658,000. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 45.7% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,912,377 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $112,123,000 after buying an additional 599,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,335,359 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $168,216,000 after buying an additional 495,404 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ TECH traded up $1.49 on Friday, reaching $54.41. 1,745,308 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,832,320. 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 current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.79. The stock has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 118.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.47.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.43%. The business had revenue of $316.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $315.14 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on TECH shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Friday, May 30th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 8th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.