BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC Acquires 27,989 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH – Get Rating) by 90.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,989 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC owned 0.15% of Bio-Techne worth $16,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.2% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 17,199 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,885,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Bio-Techne by 486.6% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 12,055 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,424,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 86,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,582,000 after buying an additional 8,624 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 222.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 71,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,304,000 after buying an additional 49,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth about $605,000. 23.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ TECH opened at $73.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a current ratio of 4.40. The company has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $68.00 and a one year high of $113.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.66.

Bio-Techne Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is an increase from Bio-Techne’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $81.25 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, December 12th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Bio-Techne to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.36.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

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Bio-Techne Corp. engages in the development, manufacture and sale of biotechnology reagents and instruments for the research and clinical diagnostic markets. It operates through the following segments: Protein Sciences and Diagnostics and Genomics. The Protein Sciences segment develops and manufactures purified proteins and reagent solutions most notably cytokines and growth factors, antibodies, immunoassays, biologically active small molecule compounds, tissue culture reagents and T-Cell activation technologies.