Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 1,102 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 13.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,292 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,102 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the first quarter worth $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1,355.6% during the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its position in Bio-Techne by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,078 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $49.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a PE ratio of 60.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.38. Bio-Techne Corp has a fifty-two week low of $46.01 and a fifty-two week high of $83.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a current ratio of 3.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.59 and a 200-day moving average of $61.78.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $316.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $317.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the biotechnology company to purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 39.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on TECH. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Friday, May 30th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Baird R W downgraded Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

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.