Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 11.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,574 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 4.1% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,333 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 51.5% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 38.5% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 756 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.00.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $75.69 on Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week high of $85.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.34 and a 200 day moving average of $74.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a PE ratio of 80.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 4.56.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

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.