Commerce Bank Sells 4,397 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Commerce Bank reduced its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,644 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 4,397 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Bio-Techne by 4.1% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,185 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,333 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 51.5% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $71.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.83, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.28. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $61.16 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.77 and a 200-day moving average of $75.25. The company has a current ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.