UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Acquires 20,277 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 754,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,277 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.47% of Bio-Techne worth $60,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth about $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1,427.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on TECH shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $76.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $61.16 and a one year high of $85.57. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a PE ratio of 80.87, a PEG ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is 34.04%.

Bio-Techne Profile

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.