Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Decreases Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,580,802 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 8,997 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.62% of Bio-Techne worth $206,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the second quarter worth about $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Bio-Techne stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $71.28. 620,615 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,229,735. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $61.16 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The firm has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's fifty day moving average is $73.84 and its 200 day moving average is $75.28. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. The business 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on 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, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.