Synovus Financial Corp Acquires 6,324 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Bio-Techne Corp by 35.2%, acquiring an additional 6,324 shares, bringing its total to 24,295 shares valued at approximately $1.42 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Price T Rowe Associates and Ameriprise Financial, have raised their stakes in Bio-Techne, indicating strong institutional interest as 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Bio-Techne announced a $0.08 quarterly dividend and has an authorized stock buyback plan of up to $500 million, reflecting confidence in the company's valuation.

Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 35.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,295 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,324 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,375,279 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $666,933,000 after purchasing an additional 721,012 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,702,942 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $338,756,000 after purchasing an additional 317,349 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,190,115 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $245,666,000 after purchasing an additional 369,651 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,025,409 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $177,380,000 after purchasing an additional 472,847 shares during the period. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,335,359 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $168,216,000 after purchasing an additional 495,404 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. 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. Stephens upgraded shares of Bio-Techne to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.42.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH opened at $56.79 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company's fifty day moving average price is $53.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.41. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $80.95. The company has a market cap of $8.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.46, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.40.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.57%.

Bio-Techne declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bio-Techne 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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