Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 32,173 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 60.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,010 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 32,173 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.05% of Bio-Techne worth $6,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,301,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 valued at $767,428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,954 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at $44,479,000. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $168,216,000 after purchasing an additional 495,404 shares during the period. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at $30,047,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $46.66 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $52.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. The stock has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.01 and a fifty-two week high of $83.96.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is presently 39.02%.

Bio-Techne announced that its board 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 purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued 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 price target of $73.44.

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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