Yousif Capital Management LLC Has $1.23 Million Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,136 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 777 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised 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 worth $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 $39,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $66.77 on Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $61.16 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $74.14 and its 200-day moving average is $74.11. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.44, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TECH. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price target 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.57.

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.