Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Stock Position Lowered by Champlain Investment Partners LLC

Champlain Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,606,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 70,895 shares during the period. Bio-Techne makes up about 1.3% of Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $208,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 922.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1,427.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $71.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The stock has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a PE ratio of 75.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.28. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.78.

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.