Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 75653 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH – Free Report) by 127.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 134,815 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,653 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $10,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TECH. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 382.9% in the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 7,153,947 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $592,919,000 after purchasing an additional 5,672,587 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 1,300.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,982,630 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $247,200,000 after purchasing an additional 2,769,642 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $136,489,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 330.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,767,115 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $146,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 2,018.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,371,003 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $111,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on TECH shares. Stephens dropped their price target on Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Scotiabank started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.11.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total value of $800,592.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,097 shares in the company, valued at $3,317,607.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $70.39 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $71.39 and a 200-day moving average of $68.96. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $51.79 and a 1 year high of $89.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 4.37 and a quick ratio of 3.03. The company has a market capitalization of $11.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.01, a P/E/G ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.22.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 14.21%. The company had revenue of $272.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $277.48 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 26th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 23.19%.

About Bio-Techne

(Free Report)

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.

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