Capital Research Global Investors Grows Stock Position in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 61.6% in Q3 to 1,625,502 shares (about 1.04% of the company) worth roughly $90.4 million after buying an additional 619,552 shares.
• Analyst sentiment is positive: the consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $72.77, and several firms (Citigroup, TD Cowen, Wells Fargo) have recently raised targets into the mid-$70s to $80s.
• Bio-Techne slightly beat Q results (EPS $0.46 vs. $0.43; revenue $295.9M vs. $290.2M) while revenue was essentially flat year-over-year, and the stock trades at a high P/E (~105) with a small dividend yield (~0.6%).

Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 61.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,625,502 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 619,552 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned 1.04% of Bio-Techne worth $90,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,710,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 9.5% during the second quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 565,601 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,100,000 after acquiring an additional 48,838 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 8.0% during the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 474,320 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $26,386,000 after acquiring an additional 35,165 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.7% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,552,440 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $79,873,000 after purchasing an additional 41,180 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,425,000. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TECH has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Bio-Techne from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 price target on Bio-Techne and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Bio-Techne from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.77.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 1.5%

Bio-Techne stock opened at $53.62 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 4.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.99. Bio-Techne Corp has a twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $72.16.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 16th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 62.75%.

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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