Riverbridge Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Riverbridge Partners LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 53.9% during the 2nd quarter, now owning 0.61% of the company, valued at approximately $49.1 million.
• Recent upgrades from analysts include a shift from "hold" to "moderate buy" by Royal Bank Of Canada, and a new price target set at $70.00 by Citigroup.
• Bio-Techne reported a quarterly EPS of $0.53, exceeding analysts' expectations, and confirmed a dividend of $0.08 per share with a 0.6% yield.

Riverbridge Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 53.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 954,889 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 334,436 shares during the quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC owned 0.61% of Bio-Techne worth $49,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 1,239.1% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 924 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the first quarter worth approximately $69,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on TECH shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Bio-Techne to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.42.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 3.2%

NASDAQ TECH opened at $51.22 on Thursday. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12 month low of $46.01 and a 12 month high of $80.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The company has a market capitalization of $7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.47. The company's fifty day moving average price is $53.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.81.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $316.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued 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 of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is 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.

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