Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 83,569 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 65.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 212,227 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,569 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.13% of Bio-Techne worth $16,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 831.4% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 46,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,565,000 after purchasing an additional 41,244 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 113.4% during the 3rd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 39,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,716,000 after buying an additional 21,200 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 11.1% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 611,813 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,646,000 after acquiring an additional 61,190 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,494 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $815,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 32.6% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,826 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TECH. Stephens cut their target price on Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Scotiabank started coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 8th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.50.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $77.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.15 billion, a PE ratio of 61.34, a P/E/G ratio of 9.41 and a beta of 1.23. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $51.79 and a 1 year high of $89.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 4.08 and a quick ratio of 3.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.55.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $303.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.36 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total value of $800,592.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 43,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,317,607.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 4.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bio-Techne Profile

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.