Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Has $25.82 Million Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 323,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 18,200 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne makes up about 4.6% of Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $25,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective 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. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $75.96 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $74.14 and its 200-day moving average is $75.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The company has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.28. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.63 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

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

Bio-Techne Company 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.