Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Reduces Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,622 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,955 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC owned about 0.09% of Bio-Techne worth $10,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $511,232,000 after buying an additional 95,133 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $147,002,000 after acquiring an additional 354,478 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,465,690 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $105,574,000 after acquiring an additional 51,687 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $89,724,000. Finally, American Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,114,393 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $89,073,000 after acquiring an additional 27,508 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on TECH shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % 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.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $64.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of 65.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $70.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.75. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $58.98 and a 1 year high of $85.57.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.