Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Bought by Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 8.4% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth $232,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $8,430,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 33.1% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 39,432 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,152,000 after acquiring an additional 9,815 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value of $1,035,067.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TECH shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Baird R W downgraded Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.29.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

TECH stock opened at $64.92 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.39. The firm has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.58, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $61.16 and a 1 year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

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.