Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Has $10 Million Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 137,131 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,513 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned about 0.09% of Bio-Techne worth $10,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TECH. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 12.2% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,349 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 261,900 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $20,934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,794 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $943,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 6.0% in the third quarter. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd now owns 323,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $25,817,000 after buying an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 5.2% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,760 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,377,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Bio-Techne Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ TECH traded up $1.77 on Wednesday, reaching $60.24. The company had a trading volume of 3,589,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,060,722. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $56.66 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The stock's 50 day moving average is $70.15 and its 200-day moving average is $72.52. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $9.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.85, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. Equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business's 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 owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on TECH. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $82.14.

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.