First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Buys 120,275 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 4,392.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 123,013 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 120,275 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. owned 0.08% of Bio-Techne worth $8,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,001 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,560 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 254,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $18,298,000 after buying an additional 25,650 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of TECH stock opened at $77.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 4.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.22 and its 200-day moving average is $74.53. The stock has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.97, a PEG ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 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 net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

About Bio-Techne

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.