Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. Boosts Stock Position in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 131.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,392,001 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,926,066 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne comprises about 2.9% of Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. owned 2.17% of Bio-Techne worth $177,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of TECH opened at $71.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.29. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12-month low of $43.19 and a 12-month high of $72.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.84. The company has a current ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The company had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partners set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Citigroup cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.08.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.