Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 358 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Verition Fund Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,212 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 358 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 8.2% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,862,260 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $205,081,000 after buying an additional 216,044 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,589,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $185,559,000 after acquiring an additional 88,257 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $122,879,000 after acquiring an additional 290,510 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,310 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $88,267,000 after acquiring an additional 17,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 9.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 894,352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $64,082,000 after purchasing an additional 76,641 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $77.40 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 4.56 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business 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 was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.00.

About Bio-Techne

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.