Edgestream Partners L.P. Cuts Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Edgestream Partners L.P. cut its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 35.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,956 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 20,591 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 92.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,746,119 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $404,470,000 after acquiring an additional 2,755,065 shares during the last quarter. Brown Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Brown Capital Management LLC now owns 3,550,990 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $273,994,000 after purchasing an additional 392,986 shares during the last quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 3,079,483 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $237,613,000 after buying an additional 25,903 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 14.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,862,526 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,493,000 after buying an additional 351,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,589,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $185,559,000 after buying an additional 88,257 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $76.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $51.79 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $75.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.92.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. Citigroup cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.