Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) is Montanaro Asset Management Ltd's 3rd Largest Position

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 323,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,200 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne accounts for approximately 4.6% of Montanaro Asset Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.20% of Bio-Techne worth $25,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted 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 buying an additional 2,755,065 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714,994 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $122,879,000 after buying an additional 290,510 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,862,260 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $205,081,000 after buying an additional 216,044 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,589,799 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $185,559,000 after buying an additional 88,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 9.4% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.96. 649,382 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 950,884. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.14 and a 200-day moving average of $75.15. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $55.63 and a one year high of $85.57. The firm has a market cap of $12.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.81, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $289.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TECH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. 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. Scotiabank boosted 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. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.