Handelsbanken Fonder AB Cuts Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 292,748 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 41,000 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.18% of Bio-Techne worth $23,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 922.5% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth about $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the first quarter worth about $38,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.60.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH stock traded up $0.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $74.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 703,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 842,009. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.11 and a 200-day moving average of $74.24. The stock has a market cap of $11.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.35, a P/E/G ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $51.79 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The company has a current ratio of 3.87, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $306.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.40%.

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.