Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Bought by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,402 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the third 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 period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at $89,724,000. American Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the third quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,114,393 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $89,073,000 after acquiring an additional 27,508 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,310 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $88,267,000 after acquiring an additional 17,114 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.1% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 845,398 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $67,573,000 after purchasing an additional 17,296 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $68.34 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $74.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.15. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $61.16 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The stock has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a PE ratio of 69.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TECH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

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.