Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 5,109,880 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group cut its Bio-Techne stake by 99.8%, selling 5,109,880 shares and retaining 10,305 shares worth approximately $728,000. Institutional investors still own 98.95% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is largely neutral: Bio-Techne has a consensus “Hold” rating from MarketBeat, with 15 Hold ratings and two Buy ratings, and a consensus price target of $68.92.
• Bio-Techne reported quarterly revenue of $321.19 million, exceeding estimates, while EPS of $0.52 matched expectations. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.65 per share, implying a 3.6% annualized yield.

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 99.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,305 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 5,109,880 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 506.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 673 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on TECH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Bio-Techne from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. William Blair cut Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Bio-Techne from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.92.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $72.12 on Friday. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $43.19 and a fifty-two week high of $72.62. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $71.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.57. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 62.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.58 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 3.35 and a current ratio of 4.55.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The firm had revenue of $321.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $314.63 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 24th. This is a positive change from Bio-Techne's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

Bio-Techne Profile

Bio-Techne Corporation NASDAQ: TECH is a global life sciences company that develops and supplies research, diagnostic and bioprocessing products. Its portfolio includes proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, molecular biology reagents, cell and gene therapy tools, and instruments used by academic, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostic laboratories.

The company operates through brands including R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics. Its products support applications such as protein analysis, spatial biology, single-cell research, biomarker discovery, drug development and the manufacture of cell and gene therapies.

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