Riverbridge Partners LLC Lowers Stock Position in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Riverbridge Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 22.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 608,916 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 176,872 shares during the quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC owned 0.39% of Bio-Techne worth $31,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 4,055 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Bio-Techne by 25.2% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 15,916 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 3,206 shares in the last quarter. MidFirst Bank bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at $223,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at $1,300,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Bio-Techne by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,734,049 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $337,219,000 after purchasing an additional 618,916 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $62.00 price objective on Bio-Techne and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore set a $50.00 target price on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.15.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $56.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a PE ratio of 81.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 4.49. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $43.19 and a fifty-two week high of $72.16. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.96.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid 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 0.6%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 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.