Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $877,000 Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,978 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 897 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $877,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Simplify Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 67.4% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,618 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 3,068 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in Bio-Techne by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in Bio-Techne by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 845,398 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $67,573,000 after buying an additional 17,296 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Bio-Techne by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 22,959 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,835,000 after buying an additional 1,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,333 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 0.7 %

TECH stock opened at $66.37 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a PE ratio of 70.61, a PEG ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 1.28. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1-year low of $61.11 and a 1-year high of $85.57. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.35.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.04%.

Bio-Techne Company 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.