DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 1,366 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,444 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,366 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 275,644 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $511,232,000 after purchasing an additional 95,133 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 354,478 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,301,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne 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 directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TECH. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $57.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 57.93, a P/E/G 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.21. 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 (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.