Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 1,764 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,764 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,078,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 277,925 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,897,000 after buying an additional 116,331 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Bio-Techne by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 92,910 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,692,000 after acquiring an additional 2,568 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 137,131 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $10,004,000 after purchasing an additional 17,513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth about $961,000. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $62.16 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $69.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.35. The stock has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a PE ratio of 62.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $56.60 and a 12 month high of $85.57.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TECH shares. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.14.

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.