Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,368,162 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,544 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $139,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 109.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 453 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at $32,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 506.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 673 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on TECH shares. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.77.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $55.54 on Monday. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12 month low of $46.01 and a 12 month high of $72.16. The company has a market capitalization of $8.69 billion, a PE ratio of 108.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $56.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 4.54 and a quick ratio of 3.08.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $295.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.20 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.75%.

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.