Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Purchased by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $72.98 on Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $51.79 and a one year high of $85.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.92, a PEG ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a current ratio of 3.87.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.49 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 firm had revenue of $306.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TECH. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.60.

Bio-Techne Company 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.