Barclays PLC Sells 14,504 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Barclays PLC lessened its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 332,098 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 14,504 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.21% of Bio-Techne worth $26,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on TECH. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank lifted 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 upped their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 1.3 %

TECH traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $75.69. 487,423 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,010,048. 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 50 day moving average price of $73.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a PE ratio of 80.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The company had revenue of $289.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.04%.

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.