Polen Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Key Points

• Polen Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by purchasing an additional 25,554 shares, bringing its total ownership to 46,314 shares valued at approximately $2.7 million.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Bio-Techne's stock, with price targets ranging from $60.00 to $90.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Bio-Techne recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, along with a stock buyback plan authorizing repurchase of up to $500 million of its shares, indicating confidence in the company's stock value.

Polen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 123.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,314 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 25,554 shares during the quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the first quarter worth $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on TECH. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Bio-Techne from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Stephens raised Bio-Techne to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.42.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock traded up $1.88 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.71. 1,666,904 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,056,513. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $46.01 and a fifty-two week high of $80.95.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

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

Bio-Techne declared that its board has approved a share 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 repurchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.