National Bank of Canada FI Acquires 8,491 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 24.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,255 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,491 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First City Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 6.2% in the first quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,185 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 13,220 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $931,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 5.2% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,652 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.3% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,164 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.60.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $73.49 on Thursday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $51.79 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $74.78 and its 200-day moving average is $73.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.33, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 3.87, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $306.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Bio-Techne’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Bio-Techne Company 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.