Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 275,644 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Bio-Techne worth $1,339,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on TECH shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp increased 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $59.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.56, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $56.60 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.56.

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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued 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 is presently 32.32%.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

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.