Teacher Retirement System of Texas Takes $1.36 Million Position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 23,227 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,362,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 275,644 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $767,428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,954 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $338,756,000 after purchasing an additional 317,349 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 98,660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,820,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $275,188,000 after purchasing an additional 358,756 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:TECH traded down $0.27 on Friday, hitting $54.14. 1,420,801 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,471,906. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.39. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52 week low of $46.01 and a 52 week high of $83.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a current ratio of 3.71. The company's 50-day moving average price is $50.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.93.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $316.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $317.92 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.89%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.02%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank reduced 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Friday, May 30th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.00.

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.