Fifth Third Bancorp Has $7.13 Million Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp sharply increased its Bio-Techne stake by 884.8% in Q1, ending with 136,521 shares valued at about $7.13 million.
• Bio-Techne’s stock was trading near its 52-week high at $71.77, and the company reported a market cap of $11.24 billion with a relatively low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.
• The company’s latest earnings missed analyst estimates, with EPS of $0.53 versus $0.55 expected and revenue of $311.42 million versus $316.11 million expected, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus "Hold".

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 884.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,521 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 122,658 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned about 0.09% of Bio-Techne worth $7,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at about $11,468,000. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth about $15,023,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 316.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 703,477 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $41,373,000 after purchasing an additional 534,676 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 390,794 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $22,983,000 after purchasing an additional 23,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 105,481 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,203,000 after purchasing an additional 38,031 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ TECH opened at $71.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 4.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.29. Bio-Techne Corp has a twelve month low of $43.19 and a twelve month high of $72.16. The stock has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 104.02, a PEG ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is currently 46.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $73.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Stephens set a $73.00 price target on Bio-Techne and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup cut Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.08.

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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