Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $41.37 Million Stock Position in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its Bio-Techne stake by 316.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 703,477 shares valued at about $41.37 million.
• Bio-Techne drew more institutional buying overall, with hedge funds and asset managers holding 98.95% of the company’s stock after several firms significantly boosted positions.
• Analysts remain cautious but mostly positive: the stock carries an average “Moderate Buy” rating with a $66.77 price target, while Bio-Techne recently missed earnings and revenue estimates for the quarter.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 316.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 703,477 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 534,676 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.45% of Bio-Techne worth $41,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 349.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,115,133 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $284,555,000 after purchasing an additional 3,978,026 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 164.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,012,818 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $235,994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,495,328 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,658,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,037,806 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $113,363,000 after acquiring an additional 894,987 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,307,116 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $183,975,000 after acquiring an additional 807,147 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on TECH. Evercore set a $50.00 target price on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 target price on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bio-Techne from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $49.00 target price on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.77.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $48.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.54. The company has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.09, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.49. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $45.12 and a fifty-two week high of $72.16.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $311.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The business's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.38%.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

Bio-Techne Corporation NASDAQ: TECH is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.

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