SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 602.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,154 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 42,153 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,339,370,000 after acquiring an additional 275,644 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $767,428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,954 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,702,942 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $338,756,000 after acquiring an additional 317,349 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $287,488,000 after buying an additional 98,660 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,820,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $275,188,000 after buying an additional 358,756 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 2.0%

TECH stock opened at $50.52 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average of $49.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.13. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $46.01 and a 52-week high of $83.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.02%.

Bio-Techne announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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