Bio-Techne Corp $TECH Shares Sold by Ashford Capital Management Inc.

Ashford Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 57.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,008 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 21,897 shares during the period. Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 349.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,115,133 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $284,555,000 after acquiring an additional 3,978,026 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 164.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,012,818 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $235,994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,495,328 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $99,494,000. Durable Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,658,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 2,874.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,281,792 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $66,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,705 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $49.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup downgraded Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.08.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $71.62 on Tuesday. Bio-Techne Corp has a twelve month low of $43.19 and a twelve 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. The company has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a PE ratio of 103.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.03 and its 200 day moving average is $58.84.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $311.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 46.38%.

About Bio-Techne

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.