Fox Run Management L.L.C. Trims Stock Position in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Fox Run Management L.L.C. has significantly reduced its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 82.3%, holding only 3,556 shares valued at $208,000 after selling 16,529 shares in the first quarter.
• Bio-Techne reported earnings of $0.53 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.50, with revenue also increasing by 3.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a $500 million share repurchase plan, suggesting that the board believes the stock is undervalued, as well as declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. lowered its position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 82.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,556 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 16,529 shares during the quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C.'s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1,239.1% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 924 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Bio-Techne stock traded up $3.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $57.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,442,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,281,608. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.11, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.40. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $80.95. The stock's fifty day moving average is $53.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.65.

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

Bio-Techne announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TECH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Stephens raised Bio-Techne to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citigroup raised 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 report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.42.

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.