The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $15.93 Million Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 199,340 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 24,706 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.13% of Bio-Techne worth $15,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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 target on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 0.4 %

TECH stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $75.07. The company had a trading volume of 266,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,020,588. The company has a market capitalization of $11.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.17, a PEG ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.28. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $61.16 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.97. 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 results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

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.