Flputnam Investment Management Co. Has $956,000 Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 72.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,276 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,570 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth $89,724,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Bio-Techne by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $147,002,000 after purchasing an additional 354,478 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth $20,071,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Bio-Techne by 8,079.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 242,525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,469,000 after purchasing an additional 239,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in Bio-Techne by 4,392.8% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 123,013 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,861,000 after purchasing an additional 120,275 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value 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 approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TECH. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. KeyCorp lifted their target price 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, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.29.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of TECH stock opened at $61.75 on Monday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $60.94 and a 12-month high of $85.57. The company has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Bio-Techne 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.