Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Sells 23,100 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 40.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 23,100 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $122,879,000 after purchasing an additional 290,510 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,862,260 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $205,081,000 after buying an additional 216,044 shares in the last quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 100.0% in the third quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,986,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,589,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $185,559,000 after buying an additional 88,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 9.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 894,352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $64,082,000 after acquiring an additional 76,641 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on TECH shares. 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 for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $73.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.61, a PEG ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $61.16 and a one year high of $85.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.86. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $289.46 million for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Bio-Techne’s dividend 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.