Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $185.56 Million Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 3.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,589,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 88,257 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $185,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 922.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 1,427.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on TECH shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup cut Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.60.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $75.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.75, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $51.79 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.98 and a 200-day moving average of $73.89. The company has a current ratio of 3.87, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business had revenue of $306.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Bio-Techne’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

About Bio-Techne

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.