Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,938 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 716 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 921 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 13,220 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $931,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in Bio-Techne by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in Bio-Techne by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 43,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,344,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:TECH traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $80.16. 305,920 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,063,376. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $51.79 and a one year high of $85.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 4.08 and a quick ratio of 2.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.99. The company has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a PE ratio of 63.97, a P/E/G ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 1.29.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business had revenue of $303.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Bio-Techne’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on TECH shares. Citigroup cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.00.

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.