Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Conestoga Capital Advisors increased its Bio-Techne stake by 27.3% in the first quarter, adding 96,855 shares to reach 451,416 shares worth about $23.6 million.
• Other institutional investors also raised holdings, and hedge funds and other institutions now own 98.95% of Bio-Techne’s shares, showing heavy institutional ownership.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: the stock has a Hold consensus rating, while Bio-Techne recently missed earnings and revenue estimates in its latest quarterly report.

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 27.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 451,416 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 96,855 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.29% of Bio-Techne worth $23,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Bio-Techne by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,345,414 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $490,794,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,536 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,812,032 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $341,806,000 after buying an additional 58,639 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,734,049 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $337,219,000 after buying an additional 618,916 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,075,194 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $239,663,000 after buying an additional 725,050 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 164.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,012,818 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $235,994,000 after buying an additional 2,495,328 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 26th. William Blair lowered Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Bio-Techne from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $67.79.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $71.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 4.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52-week low of $43.19 and a 52-week high of $72.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.30. The company has a market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a PE ratio of 102.90, a P/E/G ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.29.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.The company had revenue of $311.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $316.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 46.38%.

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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