Hsbc Holdings PLC Decreases Stake in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 182,867 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 23,634 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $10,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Bio-Techne

Here are the key news stories impacting Bio-Techne this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Merck KGaA agreed to buy Bio-Techne for $73 per share in cash, giving shareholders a clear exit value and likely driving the stock toward the deal price. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Agrees to Acquire Bio-Techne
• Positive Sentiment: The offer represents a sizable premium to Bio-Techne’s recent share price, which typically boosts takeover-target stocks as investors price in deal completion. Germany’s Merck to buy Bio-Techne for $73 per share
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced shareholder investigations into whether Bio-Techne’s board secured a fair price, which could create legal noise but does not change the announced deal terms. Shareholder Alert: Ademi LLP investigates whether Bio-Techne Corporation is obtaining a Fair Price for Public Shareholders
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data showed no meaningful short position, so the move appears driven more by the takeover announcement than by short covering. Bio-Techne Surges on $73-Per-Share Cash Takeover Agreement

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on TECH shares. William Blair cut shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research cut Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Evercore set a $50.00 price objective on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $73.00 price objective on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.71.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $70.70 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.70 and a 200 day moving average of $56.99. The stock has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 1.37. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12 month low of $43.19 and a 12 month high of $72.16. The company has a current ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.The firm had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.38%.

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.