Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 1,843 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 261,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,843 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $20,934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TECH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 92.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,746,119 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $404,470,000 after acquiring an additional 2,755,065 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 20.4% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $122,879,000 after purchasing an additional 290,510 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 8.2% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,862,260 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $205,081,000 after buying an additional 216,044 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,589,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $185,559,000 after buying an additional 88,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased 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 worth $64,082,000 after buying an additional 76,641 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on TECH shares. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $75.93 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.39. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $58.99 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The company has a current ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a PE ratio of 80.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.28.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. Bio-Techne’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.