6,799 Shares in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH Acquired by Petrus Trust Company LTA

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired 6,799 shares of Bio-Techne Corp, totaling approximately $399,000 in value during the first quarter.
• The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.53 for the recent quarter, surpassing consensus estimates by $0.03.
• Bio-Techne announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08, resulting in a 0.6% yield, with a dividend payout ratio of 69.57%.

Petrus Trust Company LTA bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,799 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $399,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 5.1% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,300 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.7% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 30,646 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Bio-Techne by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,005 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,994,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its position in Bio-Techne by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 19,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC increased its position in Bio-Techne by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,936 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TECH. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Friday, May 30th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.42.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH traded down $1.95 during trading on Friday, reaching $51.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,982,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,941,941. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52-week low of $46.01 and a 52-week high of $80.95. The company's fifty day moving average price is $53.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.29. The company has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.46.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 6.02%.The company had revenue of $316.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.57%.

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.