Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Position Lessened by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 871 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.0% in 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 holdings in Bio-Techne by 51.5% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on TECH. 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. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ TECH opened at $72.98 on Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $61.16 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $11.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.64, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.31.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 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.