Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 159,640 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 26,898 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.10% of Bio-Techne worth $8,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 565,601 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,100,000 after buying an additional 48,838 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the second quarter valued at $270,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.7% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,552,440 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $79,873,000 after acquiring an additional 41,180 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 142.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,696 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 10,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 49,542 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $60.26 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.41 and its 200 day moving average is $55.74. The stock has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.46. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52-week low of $46.01 and a 52-week high of $79.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The business had revenue of $286.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.02 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.59% and a net margin of 6.41%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TECH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised Bio-Techne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $68.00 target price on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.92.

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.