Covestor Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Covestor Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 21.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $56,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 922.5% during the second 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 last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth about $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,427.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $72.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $60.04 and a 12-month high of $85.57. The company has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.37.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm 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%. Bio-Techne’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank upped their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given 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 $81.78.

Bio-Techne 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.