Jackson Square Partners LLC Sells 83,102 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Jackson Square Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 413,184 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 83,102 shares during the period. Bio-Techne accounts for about 3.2% of Jackson Square Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Jackson Square Partners LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $29,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,339,370,000 after purchasing an additional 275,644 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $511,232,000 after buying an additional 95,133 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $147,002,000 after buying an additional 354,478 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $105,574,000 after buying an additional 51,687 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth approximately $89,724,000. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $61.07 on Tuesday. 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.81. The company has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released 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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. On average, analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TECH shares. Baird R W lowered Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.25.

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.