R Squared Ltd Purchases 7,432 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,432 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $539,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 10.7% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 9,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $1,141,000. Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,764,000. Lido Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth about $663,000. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 208.6% in the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 128,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,301,000 after acquiring an additional 86,760 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Bio-Techne from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.92.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $72.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.44 billion, a PE ratio of 63.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.29. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52-week low of $43.19 and a 52-week high of $72.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $72.53 and a 200 day moving average of $63.46.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The biotechnology company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 14.00%. The business had revenue of $299.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.60 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a drop from Bio-Techne’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne is a life sciences company that develops and supplies products and services used in biological research, drug development, and clinical diagnostics. Its offerings include proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, and small molecules, as well as instruments and analytical tools for studying cells and biological processes. The company also provides technologies for protein analysis, molecular diagnostics, and spatial biology. Its portfolio includes products and services associated with brands such as R&D Systems, Tocris, ProteinSimple, and Advanced Cell Diagnostics.