Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 417 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 922.5% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth about $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,427.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on TECH. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $66.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.35. The stock has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.61, a PEG ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 1.28. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1-year low of $61.11 and a 1-year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.04%.

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.