Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Sells 13,888 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. has reduced its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 54.3%, now owning 11,712 shares valued at approximately $687,000.
• Recent analyst upgrades include Citigroup increasing Bio-Techne's rating from "neutral" to "buy" and setting a price target of $70.00.
• Bio-Techne reported earnings of $0.53 per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate and showing a 3.6% year-over-year revenue increase.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lowered its position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 54.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,712 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 13,888 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.'s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $687,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TECH. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the first quarter valued at $4,366,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,657,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 14,016 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. Ashford Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,658 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,270,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 25.4% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 13,430 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on TECH. Citigroup raised Bio-Techne from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Stephens raised shares of Bio-Techne to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, June 5th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Friday, May 30th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.42.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.2%

TECH traded up $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $54.20. 2,229,709 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,847,815. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $46.01 and a fifty-two week high of $80.95. The stock has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.83, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.47. The business's 50 day moving average is $54.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $316.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $315.14 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

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

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.