Comerica Bank Acquires 56,031 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Comerica Bank increased its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 98.4%, owning around $6.63 million worth of shares as of the latest SEC filing.
• Bio-Techne reported a quarterly EPS of $0.53, exceeding analyst estimates, and confirmed a revenue of $316.96 million, marking a 3.6% increase year-over-year.
• The company approved a share repurchase plan allowing up to $500 million to be spent on buying back shares, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 98.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,995 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,031 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned approximately 0.07% of Bio-Techne worth $6,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CX Institutional purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,239.1% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 924 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $53.08. The company had a trading volume of 674,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,035,711. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52 week low of $46.01 and a 52 week high of $80.95. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $53.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $316.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $315.14 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 6.02%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 (DPR) is currently 69.57%.

Bio-Techne announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the biotechnology company to purchase up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TECH shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Friday, May 30th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised Bio-Techne from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $55.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.42.

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.