50,832 Shares in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Purchased by Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 50,832 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,661,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TECH. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth $312,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth $4,082,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 284.6% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,244 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,763,000 after purchasing an additional 38,661 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth $224,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.9% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 85,010 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,123,000 after purchasing an additional 32,173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TECH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Baird R W lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ TECH traded up $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.78. 1,835,362 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,365,145. The business's fifty day moving average is $50.41 and its 200 day moving average is $63.29. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.01 and a fifty-two week high of $83.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The firm had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

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.