Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $1.51 Million Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,764 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 95,133 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 21.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,465,690 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $105,574,000 after purchasing an additional 51,687 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $89,724,000. Finally, American Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,114,393 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $89,073,000 after buying an additional 27,508 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’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 value 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. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 value 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. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 3.8 %

Bio-Techne stock opened at $62.16 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a PE ratio of 62.79, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.69 and its 200 day moving average is $72.35. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $56.60 and a 12-month high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TECH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.14.

About Bio-Techne

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.