Blair William & Co. IL Sells 12,134 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 10.6%, now holding 101,995 shares worth approximately $5.98 million.
• Bio-Techne reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.53, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.50, with revenues of $316.96 million for the period.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share and has authorized a $500 million stock buyback program, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Blair William & Co. IL cut its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,995 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 12,134 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.06% of Bio-Techne worth $5,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TECH. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the first quarter valued at $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter worth about $69,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock traded up $0.27 on Friday, reaching $50.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,898,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,062,537. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a current ratio of 3.46. The business's 50-day moving average price is $52.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.23. The stock has a market cap of $7.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.40. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $46.01 and a fifty-two week high of $80.95.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $316.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $315.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 39.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TECH. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Bio-Techne from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Friday, May 30th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.42.

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.