Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Purchases 20,960 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Osterweis Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 8.5%, acquiring an additional 20,960 shares to hold a total of 266,691 shares valued at approximately $15.6 million.
• Bio-Techne reported earnings of $0.53 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates, with a revenue increase of 3.6% year-over-year.
• The company's Board of Directors has authorized a $500 million stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in the value of its shares.

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 266,691 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,960 shares during the quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Bio-Techne worth $15,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $767,428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,954 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,702,942 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $338,756,000 after purchasing an additional 317,349 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 9.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,190,115 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $245,666,000 after purchasing an additional 369,651 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 18.5% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,025,409 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $177,380,000 after purchasing an additional 472,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,335,359 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $168,216,000 after buying an additional 495,404 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ TECH traded up $3.09 on Friday, reaching $57.09. 1,442,419 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,281,608. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12 month low of $46.01 and a 12 month high of $80.95. 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 50-day simple moving average of $53.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.65. The stock has a market cap of $8.95 billion, a PE ratio of 124.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Bio-Techne declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Friday, May 30th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised shares of 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 research note on Thursday. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Bio-Techne to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.42.

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.