Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Trims Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,246 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,052 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned 0.14% of Bio-Techne worth $15,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Bio-Techne by 922.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 1,427.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $78.30 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $12.42 billion, a PE ratio of 62.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.79 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Bio-Techne

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.