Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $113.02 Million Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 5.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,414,003 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 88,911 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $113,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $74.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.22. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $61.16 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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 lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.