Janus Henderson Group PLC Has $72.71 Million Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,009,471 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,305 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.64% of Bio-Techne worth $72,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,650 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 5,295 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,119,000 after acquiring an additional 16,038 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 254,034 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $18,298,000 after acquiring an additional 25,650 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,940,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 736,340 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $52,641,000 after purchasing an additional 79,629 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH stock traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $49.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,615,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,277,231. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $53.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $46.01 and a one year high of $84.22. The firm has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of 49.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. The company had revenue of $316.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on TECH shares. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Benchmark decreased their target price on Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.44.

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.