Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Reduces Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $511,232,000 after purchasing an additional 95,133 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth $89,724,000. American Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,114,393 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,073,000 after buying an additional 27,508 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,310 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $88,267,000 after buying an additional 17,114 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 894,352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $64,082,000 after buying an additional 76,641 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH stock opened at $77.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $61.16 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.53.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on TECH. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.00.

Bio-Techne 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.