Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 741 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,856 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 741 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,116.2% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 403,148 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,107,000 after purchasing an additional 370,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 14.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,880,812 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $128,027,000 after buying an additional 241,771 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at $15,499,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Bio-Techne by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,309,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $101,025,000 after acquiring an additional 170,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,305,826 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $225,028,000 after purchasing an additional 143,716 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $77.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.18 billion, a PE ratio of 61.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 1.23. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $51.79 and a 52-week high of $89.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a current ratio of 4.08. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $69.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.75.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total value of $800,592.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TECH. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 8th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stephens decreased their price target on Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.50.

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.