Bio-Techne Corp $TECH Shares Sold by Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT

Key Points

• Bradley Foster & Sargent cut its Bio-Techne stake by 80.5% in the first quarter, selling 157,998 shares and retaining 38,242 shares valued at approximately $2.0 million. Institutional investors overall still own 98.95% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $68.08. Several firms raised targets to $73 while maintaining neutral ratings.
• Bio-Techne shares opened at $71.60, near their 52-week high of $72.16, despite the company recently missing quarterly earnings and revenue expectations and reporting a 1.5% year-over-year revenue decline.

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT reduced its stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 80.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,242 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 157,998 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 59.6% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 9,831 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 3,672 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 49,752 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,331 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter worth approximately $19,173,000. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter worth approximately $409,000. Finally, Gibbs Wealth Management purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Leerink Partners set a $73.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Citigroup cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bio-Techne from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $68.08.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $71.60 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 4.49. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $43.19 and a fifty-two week high of $72.16. The company has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a PE ratio of 103.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.29.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.The company had revenue of $311.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $316.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.38%.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation NASDAQ: TECH is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.

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