Rhumbline Advisers Buys 39,345 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 15.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,474 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 39,345 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.19% of Bio-Techne worth $17,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,650 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,295 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at $3,940,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 736,340 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $52,641,000 after buying an additional 79,629 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in Bio-Techne by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 34,402 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,478,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 734,675 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $52,919,000 after acquiring an additional 60,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ TECH traded up $1.19 on Monday, reaching $49.88. The stock had a trading volume of 2,105,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,379,634. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The company has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $49.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.85. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $83.62.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The business had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. Bio-Techne's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on TECH shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

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.