Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Stock Position in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 10.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 95,623 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,010 shares during the quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $5,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter valued at about $98,238,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the second quarter worth about $31,421,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 548.6% during the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 653,411 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,618,000 after purchasing an additional 552,673 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,659,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 5,114.7% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 492,892 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,359,000 after purchasing an additional 483,440 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 2.6%

Bio-Techne stock opened at $71.38 on Thursday. Bio-Techne Corp has a 12 month low of $46.01 and a 12 month high of $79.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.23. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.68, a PEG ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.47.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.59% and a net margin of 6.41%.The firm 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 company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bio-Techne from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $72.00 price target on Bio-Techne and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.57.

About Bio-Techne

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.