Madison Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Madison Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 58.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,181,308 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 436,657 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC owned 0.76% of Bio-Techne worth $69,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. TradeLink Capital LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth $1,223,000. Nicholas Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 390,794 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $22,983,000 after purchasing an additional 23,785 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 7,526 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 5,259 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TECH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore set a $50.00 target price on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Bio-Techne from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.77.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH opened at $47.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of 68.73, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 4.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.78 and a 200-day moving average of $59.21. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52 week low of $45.12 and a 52 week high of $72.16.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 9.05%.Bio-Techne’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.38%.

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.