Zions Bancorporation N.A. Grows Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 17.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 30,195 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,450 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TECH. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 563.1% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 13,739 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $967,000 after purchasing an additional 11,667 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 200,662 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,125,000 after buying an additional 33,709 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 135.5% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,990 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,252,000 after buying an additional 18,404 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter worth $569,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $122,879,000 after purchasing an additional 290,510 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

TECH opened at $72.54 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 4.56. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $60.04 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of 77.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.28.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. Bio-Techne’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.