Van Berkom & Associates Inc. Sells 4,493 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Key Points

• Van Berkom & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Bio-Techne Corp by 22.3%, holding 15,639 shares valued at approximately $917,000.
• Bio-Techne recently declared a $0.08 quarterly dividend with a yield of 0.54%, and initiated a stock repurchase plan allowing buybacks of up to $500 million of its shares.
• Analyst ratings on Bio-Techne show a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $69.58 amid varying ratings from firms like Wells Fargo and UBS Group.

Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 22.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,639 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 4,493 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 25,756 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,855,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 30,646 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 19,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 6.1% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,152 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 70,157 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,053,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TECH. TD Cowen started coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price 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. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.58.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.95. 510,120 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,007,279. 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 has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a PE ratio of 70.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $51.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.35.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.92 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 39.02%.

Bio-Techne announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the biotechnology company to purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is 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.