Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 2,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,185 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,333 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Bio-Techne Trading Down 6.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $67.57 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 71.88, a PEG ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 1.28. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $60.53 and a one year high of $85.57. The company has a current ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.49.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.