Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Acquires New Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,566 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First City Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.2% in the first quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,185 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 3.2% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 7,012 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on TECH. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $74.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.82 billion, a PE ratio of 79.16, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 4.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $74.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.39. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $56.45 and a 52 week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $289.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

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.