Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Buys 6,101 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 188,035 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 6,101 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS owned approximately 0.12% of Bio-Techne worth $11,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TECH. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Bio-Techne by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,137 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth approximately $488,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,460 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 169,681 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $12,222,000 after purchasing an additional 11,625 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Friday, May 30th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $70.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH traded down $1.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,526,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,475,649. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.83. The firm has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.39. Bio-Techne Corp has a one year low of $46.01 and a one year high of $83.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 2.58.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $316.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.92 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.89%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.02%.

Bio-Techne announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the biotechnology company to purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bio-Techne Profile

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.