Norges Bank Invests $99.49 Million in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,691,780 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,494,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 5,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 6,052 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TECH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.17.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $51.99 on Friday. 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 Corp has a 12 month low of $43.19 and a 12 month high of $72.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a PE ratio of 75.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.58.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.The company had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.38%.

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.