Royal Bank of Canada Trims Stake in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• The Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 23.9%, selling 93,248 shares and leaving it with 296,574 shares valued at approximately $17.39 million.
• Analysts have set various price targets for Bio-Techne, with Citigroup upgrading their target from $55.00 to $70.00 and rating it as a buy, while the current average rating is "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target of $70.42.
• Bio-Techne is scheduled to post an estimated EPS of 1.67 for the current year, following a reported $0.53 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations.

Royal Bank of Canada cut its position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 23.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 296,574 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 93,248 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.19% of Bio-Techne worth $17,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,300 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 30,646 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,797,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,005 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,994,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 19,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,392,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,936 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated 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 on the stock. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. 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, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.42.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $51.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,006,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,975,750. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12-month low of $46.01 and a 12-month high of $80.95. The company has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.22, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.46. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $53.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.16.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $316.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. Bio-Techne's revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given 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%.

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.