Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Raises Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,137 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 46.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank increased 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. StockNews.com cut Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ TECH opened at $62.16 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $69.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.30. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $56.60 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57. The company has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94.

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 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 predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

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.