Toronto Dominion Bank Increases Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 60.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,010 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,173 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned about 0.05% of Bio-Techne worth $6,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TECH. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,355.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH stock traded up $0.07 on Friday, reaching $48.40. The stock had a trading volume of 11,773,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,356,962. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $46.01 and a 1 year high of $83.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.59. 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 $7.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.92 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. Bio-Techne's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on TECH shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Scotiabank raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

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.