Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Buys New Shares in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 5,428 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $434,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 1,427.8% in 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $76.02 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $73.55 and its 200-day moving average is $74.92. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $61.16 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The company has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TECH shares. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Bio-Techne from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.78.

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.