UBS Group AG Buys 714,827 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 47.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,224,263 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 714,827 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $130,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,468,000. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,710,000. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,425,000. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Bio-Techne by 69.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 174,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,717,000 after purchasing an additional 71,739 shares during the period. Finally, Pembroke Management LTD raised its position in Bio-Techne by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pembroke Management LTD now owns 376,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,971,000 after purchasing an additional 37,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TECH. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.77.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 6.5%

TECH opened at $55.32 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $54.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.73. The company has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.47, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.49. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52 week low of $46.05 and a 52 week high of $72.16. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 4.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $295.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.20 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 6.67%.Bio-Techne’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. Analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.75%.

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.