Quantinno Capital Management LP Increases Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 57.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 104,860 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 38,376 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned about 0.07% of Bio-Techne worth $7,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $862,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $605,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 43,144 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,108,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $49.28. 2,081,981 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,280,450. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $46.01 and a 52 week high of $84.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a PE ratio of 49.78, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. The company's 50 day moving average price is $53.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.45.

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

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 39.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TECH. Baird R W lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.