Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by Champlain Investment Partners LLC

Champlain Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,606,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 70,895 shares during the period. Bio-Techne makes up approximately 1.3% of Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned about 1.64% of Bio-Techne worth $208,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 922.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,427.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $71.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a PE ratio of 75.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.28. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1-year low of $61.16 and a 1-year high of $85.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $73.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.28.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. The business had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.