Royce & Associates LP Buys 17,296 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 845,398 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,296 shares during the period. Bio-Techne accounts for about 0.6% of Royce & Associates LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.53% of Bio-Techne worth $67,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,427.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ:TECH traded down $4.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $67.57. The stock had a trading volume of 2,449,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,020,015. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.37. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $60.53 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 77.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.28.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million during 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is presently 34.04%.

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.