Bio-Techne Corp $TECH Stock: Palisade Asset Management LLC Lowers Holdings

Palisade Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,684 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 34,600 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth about $71,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $72.78 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $72.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 3.35 and a current ratio of 4.55. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52-week low of $43.19 and a 52-week high of $72.83. The company has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.29.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.44. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The company had revenue of $299.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.60 million. Equities analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a decrease from Bio-Techne’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Bio-Techne from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.92.

Bio-Techne Profile