Toronto Dominion Bank Cuts Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Toronto Dominion Bank decreased its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 31.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,837 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 23,993 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $4,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,808 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 11.2% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 45,550 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,641,000 after buying an additional 4,574 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.3% during the third quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 16,860 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Tenere Capital LLC grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 40.3% during the third quarter. Tenere Capital LLC now owns 160,245 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $12,808,000 after acquiring an additional 45,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 86.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 80,436 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,429,000 after acquiring an additional 37,181 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ TECH traded down $0.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.69. The stock had a trading volume of 487,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 947,043. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.58. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $61.16 and a one 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.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. The company had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $280.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. Bio-Techne's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.00.

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.