Citigroup Inc. Buys 171,863 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH)

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 131.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 302,927 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 171,863 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.19% of Bio-Techne worth $17,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,630 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,980 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,362,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 3,534.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 105,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,170,000 after buying an additional 102,345 shares during the period. CX Institutional purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.2% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 18,524 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 3.6%

NASDAQ TECH opened at $54.71 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.71. The stock has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.40. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12-month low of $46.01 and a 12-month high of $80.95. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $316.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.14 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TECH. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Friday, May 30th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Bio-Techne to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.42.

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.