Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 16,038 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 58.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,038 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth $43,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 51.5% during 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. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 756 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.00.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $78.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The company has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a PE ratio of 83.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $73.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.43. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.04%.

About Bio-Techne

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.