Bamco Inc. NY Sells 331,052 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Bamco Inc. NY lowered its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 6.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,445,540 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 331,052 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne comprises about 0.9% of Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $355,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 14.8% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 53,246 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,748,000 after acquiring an additional 6,845 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 135.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,423 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 13,474 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter worth approximately $401,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 17,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 80.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,972 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 879 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $75.36 on Monday. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $61.16 and a one year high of $85.57. 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 cap of $11.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $73.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.97.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS 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 analyst estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TECH. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank upped their target price 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. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.78.

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.