State of Michigan Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,044 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Bio-Techne by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of TECH stock opened at $71.45 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $76.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.98. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $51.79 and a twelve month high of $89.91. The company has a market capitalization of $11.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.71, a PEG ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 4.08, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The firm had revenue of $303.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.56 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, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on TECH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

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.