Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Increases Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 235,519 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,084 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $18,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 261,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares in the last quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $211,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth about $59,000. Angeles Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $316,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 12.2% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.78.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock traded up $1.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $77.07. 32,422 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,012,009. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $55.63 and a 12-month high of $85.57. The business’s 50-day moving average is $74.06 and its 200-day moving average is $74.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.23 billion, a PE ratio of 80.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 1.28.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

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.