Legal & General Group Plc Sells 59,274 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Legal & General Group Plc cut its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 263,824 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 59,274 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $15,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $50.79 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $52.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.82. Bio-Techne Corp has a one year low of $43.19 and a one year high of $72.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 4.49 and a quick ratio of 3.18. The firm has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a PE ratio of 73.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.41.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.The company had revenue of $311.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. Bio-Techne’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $62.00 price target on Bio-Techne and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded Bio-Techne from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $49.00 price objective on Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.92.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.