Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Acquires New Position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Key Points

• Zions Bancorporation purchased 40,476 shares of Bio-Techne Corp valued at approximately $2.37 million during the first quarter.
• Bio-Techne announced a $500 million stock repurchase program, indicating confidence in the stock's current undervaluation while also planning to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share.
• The latest earnings report showed Bio-Techne exceeded EPS estimates and achieved a revenue increase of 3.6% year-over-year, highlighting a strong financial performance.

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 40,476 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,373,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 0.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 0.7% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 30,646 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 0.7% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,005 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,994,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its position in 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 valued at $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 4.2% in the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,936 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.42.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock traded up $1.24 on Wednesday, reaching $54.07. 705,164 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,052,512. Bio-Techne Corp has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $80.95. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $52.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a PE ratio of 117.05, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.40.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.43%. The company had revenue of $316.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is 69.57%.

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.