Swiss National Bank Sells 19,600 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 448,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 19,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $32,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted 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 acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Bio-Techne by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $62.58 on Tuesday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $56.60 and a 52-week high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. The stock has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.21.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 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%. Analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TECH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

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.