Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Decreases Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. decreased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 9.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 56,200 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 6,200 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.'s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 21.2% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.6% in the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 46,753 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,741,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 31.4% in the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 333,784 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $19,570,000 after purchasing an additional 79,750 shares during the period. CX Institutional purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 20.9% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 52,339 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,069,000 after purchasing an additional 9,041 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $50.13. 2,164,697 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,423,626. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $83.62. The company has a current ratio of 3.71, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.38. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $49.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.52.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $317.92 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 39.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Friday, May 30th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Baird R W lowered Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Bio-Techne Company 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.