Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 146,767 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Fort Washington sold 146,767 shares of Bio‑Techne, cutting its stake by 30.9% to 327,553 shares valued at about $19.26 million as of the latest 13F filing.
• Meanwhile, other major institutions boosted positions—Goldman Sachs increased its stake to 1,063,939 shares and JPMorgan to 1,358,823 shares—leaving institutional ownership at roughly 98.95%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $72.77 target vs. the stock’s recent $50.95 price; Bio‑Techne also beat quarterly EPS estimates and pays a $0.08 quarterly dividend (about 0.6% yield).

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH decreased its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 327,553 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 146,767 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned about 0.21% of Bio-Techne worth $19,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,063,939 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $62,379,000 after purchasing an additional 113,634 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 40.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,356 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 3,814 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 8.8% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,716 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $860,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 52.9% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,358,823 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $69,911,000 after acquiring an additional 470,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 171.7% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,375 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bio-Techne from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $72.00 price objective on Bio-Techne and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.77.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $50.95 on Friday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $59.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.68. The company has a current ratio of 4.54, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12 month low of $46.01 and a 12 month high of $72.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.48.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $295.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.20 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 6.67%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.75%.

About Bio-Techne

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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