HighTower Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 14.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,182 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $75.27 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $73.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.57. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $61.16 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 4.56. The company has a market capitalization of $11.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.17, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.27.

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, topping 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TECH. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has an average 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.