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

Jackson Square Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 413,184 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 83,102 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne makes up approximately 3.2% of Jackson Square Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Jackson Square Partners LLC owned about 0.26% of Bio-Techne worth $29,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $89,724,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at $44,479,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $147,002,000 after purchasing an additional 354,478 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,339,370,000 after purchasing an additional 275,644 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth $20,071,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $61.07 on Tuesday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $56.60 and a 12-month 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $67.84 and its 200-day moving average is $71.81. The stock has a market cap 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Finally, Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.25.

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.