Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Stake in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,517,490 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 138,448 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.97% of Bio-Techne worth $84,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 109.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 453 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 68.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 506.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 673 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 134.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 868 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $62.00 price target on Bio-Techne and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.57.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of TECH opened at $69.57 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.14. The company has a market cap of $10.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Bio-Techne Corp has a twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $79.28.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 13.59%. The company had revenue of $286.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Bio-Techne Company Profile

Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.