SG Americas Securities LLC Trims Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 87.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,545 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 43,772 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TECH. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 922.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $73.59 on Wednesday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $51.79 and a 52-week high of $85.57. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $74.27 and its 200 day moving average is $74.39. The stock has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. The company had revenue of $306.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.49 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.