Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Boosts Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,310 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $39,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 51.5% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $73.79 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.17. 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 market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a PE ratio of 78.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $61.16 and a one year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

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.