UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Acquires 4,489 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,823 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,489 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew 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 valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Bio-Techne by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TECH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird cut Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp increased their target price 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. Scotiabank boosted 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $58.73 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.44. The company has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.32, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. 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 $56.60 and a one year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. Analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.