Simplify Asset Management Inc. Sells 4,602 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Simplify Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 50.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 4,602 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 92.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,746,119 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $404,470,000 after purchasing an additional 2,755,065 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $119,771,000. Brown Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Brown Capital Management LLC now owns 3,550,990 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $273,994,000 after purchasing an additional 392,986 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,862,526 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $201,493,000 after purchasing an additional 351,645 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 20.4% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $122,879,000 after purchasing an additional 290,510 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 5.0 %

Bio-Techne stock opened at $80.36 on Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $51.79 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $75.23 and its 200-day moving average is $73.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a current ratio of 3.87. The company has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.78, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $306.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on TECH shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.60.

Bio-Techne 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.