Comerica Bank Increases Position in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Bio‑Techne by 56.4% in Q4, adding 38,031 shares to hold 105,481 shares (~$6.20M); institutional ownership of the stock stands at about 98.95%.
• Bio‑Techne beat the quarter with $0.46 EPS vs. $0.43 expected and $295.88M revenue vs. $290.20M, though revenue was down 0.4% year‑over‑year; the company has a market cap of $8.65B and a PE ratio of 108.47.
• The firm pays a quarterly dividend of $0.08 (annualized yield ~0.6%) and carries a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $72.77, while several analysts have raised targets (Citi to $80).

Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 56.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 105,481 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 38,031 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned 0.07% of Bio-Techne worth $6,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,063,939 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $62,379,000 after purchasing an additional 113,634 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,356 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 3,814 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 506.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 673 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,085.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 105,418 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,424,000 after purchasing an additional 96,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 82.6% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 24,991 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 11,306 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $55.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 4.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $46.05 and a fifty-two week high of $72.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.73. The company has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a PE ratio of 108.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.49.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $295.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.77.

Bio-Techne Company 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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