Versor Investments LP Takes Position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Key Points

• Versor Investments LP has acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne Corp, purchasing 40,386 shares valued at approximately $2.36 million.
• Bio-Techne recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting an EPS of $0.53 against estimates of $0.50, along with a revenue of $316.96 million.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share and has approved a share repurchase plan allowing it to buy back up to $500 million in shares.

Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 40,386 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,368,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 25,756 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,855,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position 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 buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,005 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,994,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 19,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,392,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,936 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Friday, May 30th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank lowered 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 report on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Bio-Techne to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.42.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 0.3%

Bio-Techne stock opened at $53.60 on Friday. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $80.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.40. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $316.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.14 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.43%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

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

Bio-Techne declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the biotechnology company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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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