Swiss National Bank Acquires 3,600 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 467,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $37,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 922.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $68.72 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.31. The company has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a PE ratio of 73.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $61.16 and a 12 month high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS 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 return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. Bio-Techne’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.78.

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.