Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 17.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 67,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,170 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $4,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,650 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,295 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after buying an additional 16,038 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,188,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its position in Bio-Techne by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 254,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,298,000 after acquiring an additional 25,650 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Baird R W lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $60.61 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $68.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.89. The company has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $56.60 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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, analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.