Stifel Financial Corp Acquires 3,731 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,103 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,731 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TECH. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.00.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $75.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.07, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.27. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $73.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.57. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $61.16 and a 52 week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

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

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.