Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,199 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TECH. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,650 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,295 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after buying an additional 16,038 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,188,000. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC increased its position in Bio-Techne by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,986,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $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 company insiders.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of TECH stock opened at $60.12 on Wednesday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $58.98 and a 52-week high of $85.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.99. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.73, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.