Xponance Inc. Sells 650 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Xponance Inc. lessened its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,921 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 650 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Citigroup cut their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of TECH stock opened at $60.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.88. 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 $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of 61.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $56.60 and a 12-month high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued 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 return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. As a group, analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $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.

Bio-Techne Company 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.