Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Position Increased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 544,058 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,145 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.34% of Bio-Techne worth $39,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,215,000 after buying an additional 5,295 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,119,000 after purchasing an additional 16,038 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth about $1,188,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Broadcrest Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 100.0% in the third quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,986,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W lowered Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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 raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of TECH opened at $65.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.15, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.27. 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 Co. has a one year low of $61.16 and a one year high of $85.57. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.52.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is 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.