Plato Investment Management Ltd Invests $281,000 in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management Ltd invested approximately $281,000 in Bio-Techne Corp by acquiring 4,739 shares in the first quarter.
• Bio-Techne recently reported earnings of $0.53 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations and marking a revenue increase of 3.6% compared to the previous year.
• The company's stock gained 4.4% recently, with shares opening at $53.21 and a current market capitalization of $8.34 billion.

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,739 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter worth $268,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 944,327 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $55,366,000 after purchasing an additional 19,606 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,356 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 3,814 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter worth $306,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,063,939 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $62,379,000 after purchasing an additional 113,634 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 4.4%

Bio-Techne stock opened at $53.21 on Friday. Bio-Techne Corp has a twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $80.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $53.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.45. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.68, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.47.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $315.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on TECH shares. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Stephens raised shares of Bio-Techne to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Friday, May 30th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.42.

About Bio-Techne

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.

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