Royce & Associates LP Has $51.02 Million Stock Position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 870,185 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,434 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne makes up 0.6% of Royce & Associates LP's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.55% of Bio-Techne worth $51,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,355.6% during the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH traded up $0.31 on Friday, reaching $58.78. The company had a trading volume of 2,697,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,840,360. Bio-Techne Corp has a twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $83.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $316.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $317.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.02%.

Bio-Techne declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the biotechnology company to buy up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on 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. Finally, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Seven equities research 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.58.

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.