Bio-Techne Corp $TECH Shares Sold by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 44.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,432 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 135,820 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.11% of Bio-Techne worth $8,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,375,279 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $666,933,000 after purchasing an additional 721,012 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 129.8% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 5,366,003 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $314,609,000 after buying an additional 3,030,644 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 9.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,190,115 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $245,666,000 after buying an additional 369,651 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 18.5% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,025,409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $177,380,000 after buying an additional 472,847 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.2% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,448,322 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $143,545,000 after acquiring an additional 28,668 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $61.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $46.01 and a fifty-two week high of $79.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.98. The firm has a market cap of $9.57 billion, a PE ratio of 133.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.51.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 6.02%.The company had revenue of $286.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Bio-Techne from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Stephens upgraded Bio-Techne to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citigroup raised Bio-Techne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.17.

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.