Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,153 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,032 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the second 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 during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the second quarter valued at $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at $43,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 research note on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $75.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $73.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.14. 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 (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its 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 company 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued 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 0.42%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.04%.

Bio-Techne 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.