JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 27.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 756,184 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 280,782 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $60,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 236,751 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,963,000 after acquiring an additional 4,587 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 24.4% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 43,255 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after acquiring an additional 8,491 shares in the last quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC now owns 250,489 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,948,000 after purchasing an additional 25,726 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 6.3% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,943 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 109.1% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,978 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,503,000 after acquiring an additional 10,947 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of TECH opened at $73.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.50, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $61.16 and a twelve month high of $85.57.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.00.

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.