Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Buys 175,000 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 54.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 498,500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 175,000 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.31% of Bio-Techne worth $35,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Bio-Techne stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $50.25. 1,556,292 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,218,958. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.11 and a 200-day moving average of $67.55. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $46.01 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The company has a market cap of $7.94 billion, a PE ratio of 50.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $81.14.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.