Riverbridge Partners LLC Sells 120,654 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Riverbridge Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 785,788 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 120,654 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $46,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of TECH. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 349.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,115,133 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $284,555,000 after purchasing an additional 3,978,026 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth $98,238,000. Durable Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,658,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 78.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,037,806 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $113,363,000 after buying an additional 894,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,307,116 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $183,975,000 after buying an additional 807,147 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of TECH stock opened at $52.70 on Friday. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12-month low of $46.01 and a 12-month high of $72.16. The company has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $59.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.70. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 4.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $295.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.20 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is 62.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TECH. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $72.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Bio-Techne from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore upped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.77.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.