Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp reduced its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 7.7%, selling 211,791 shares, and now owns 2,546,279 shares worth approximately $149 million.
• Several other institutional investors have increased their positions in Bio-Techne, with Price T Rowe Associates raising its stake by 13.1% during the fourth quarter.
• Bio-Techne announced a $500 million share buyback plan on May 7th, indicating management believes the stock is undervalued.

Mackenzie Financial Corp cut its holdings in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,546,279 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 211,791 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned about 1.61% of Bio-Techne worth $149,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $767,428,000 after buying an additional 1,229,954 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,702,942 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $338,756,000 after buying an additional 317,349 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $287,488,000 after buying an additional 98,660 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,820,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $275,188,000 after buying an additional 358,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,581,778 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $257,995,000 after purchasing an additional 65,686 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH traded down $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.42. 905,389 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,015,715. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.20. The company has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 66.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 3.71, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12-month low of $46.01 and a 12-month high of $81.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $316.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Stephens raised Bio-Techne to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Friday, May 30th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 price objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.58.

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.