Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 10,404 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp significantly increased its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 142.7%, acquiring an additional 10,404 shares to total 17,696 shares, valued at approximately $910,000.
• Bio-Techne reported $0.53 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analyst estimates, along with a 3.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $316.96 million.
• Recent analyst ratings for Bio-Techne yield a consensus of Moderate Buy, with target prices ranging between $65.00 and $75.00 from various firms.

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 142.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,696 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,404 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 129.8% during the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 5,366,003 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $314,609,000 after acquiring an additional 3,030,644 shares in the last quarter. RGM Capital LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the first quarter worth $59,267,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 6.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,375,279 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $666,933,000 after acquiring an additional 721,012 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the first quarter worth $39,658,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 45.7% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,912,377 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $112,123,000 after acquiring an additional 599,982 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $51.85 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.72, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.47. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12 month low of $46.01 and a 12 month high of $80.80.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 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 69.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on TECH shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 8th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Bio-Techne from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $55.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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