Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Takes $125,000 Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,566 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 922.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted 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 acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.4 %

TECH stock opened at $74.41 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $11.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.16, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.28. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1-year low of $56.45 and a 1-year high of $85.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $74.21 and its 200-day moving average is $75.39.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TECH. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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 restated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.78.

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.