First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. cut its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 89.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,075 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 109,938 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 1,355.6% in the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 30,250.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 1,214 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Baird R W lowered Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.00.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on TECH
Bio-Techne Price Performance
Shares of TECH traded down $1.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $50.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,915,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,412,418. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.38. The company's 50-day moving average is $49.63 and its 200 day moving average is $62.13. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $46.01 and a 12-month high of $83.62.
Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $316.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.92 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. Bio-Techne's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Bio-Techne announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the biotechnology company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is presently 39.02%.
About Bio-Techne
(
Free Report)
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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