XTX Topco Ltd Makes New $963,000 Investment in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd has invested approximately $963,000 in Bio-Techne Corp by purchasing 16,427 shares during the first quarter.
• Institutional ownership of Bio-Techne is high, with approximately 98.95% of its stock held by institutional investors; significant investments were also made by LPL Financial and Arrowstreet Capital.
• Bio-Techne recently announced a $500 million stock buyback plan and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, reflecting confidence in its valuations.

XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 16,427 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $963,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 81,801 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,037,000 after purchasing an additional 7,777 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at $3,940,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,932 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 1,683 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,665 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Bio-Techne by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $287,488,000 after acquiring an additional 98,660 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Scotiabank decreased 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 research report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.58.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.3%

Bio-Techne stock opened at $54.89 on Friday. Bio-Techne Corp has a twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $81.30. 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 firm has a market cap of $8.61 billion, a PE ratio of 66.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.39. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $51.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.94.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. Bio-Techne's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 buy up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

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.

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