Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd Makes New Investment in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd opened a new position in Bio‑Techne, buying 254,985 shares valued at about $15.0 million, representing roughly 0.16% ownership.
• Bio‑Techne slightly beat quarterly expectations with $0.46 EPS vs. $0.43 est. and reported $295.9M in revenue (down 0.4% year‑over‑year).
• Analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $72.77; the stock trades at a high P/E (~114.7) and a market cap of about $9.15 billion.

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd bought a new stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 254,985 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $15,023,000. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd owned 0.16% of Bio-Techne at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 109.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 453 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $58.49 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $56.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.98. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $72.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 4.54 and a quick ratio of 3.08. The firm has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.49.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $295.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.20 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Bio-Techne's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.77.

Bio-Techne Profile

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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