Bank of Montreal Can Decreases Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 194,356 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 11,197 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.12% of Bio-Techne worth $13,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,339,370,000 after buying an additional 275,644 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $287,488,000 after acquiring an additional 98,660 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $147,002,000 after purchasing an additional 354,478 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at about $137,301,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,465,690 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $105,574,000 after buying an additional 51,687 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of TECH stock traded down $1.88 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $48.10. 2,741,466 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,193,756. The business's fifty day moving average is $59.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $46.44 and a 12-month high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. As a group, research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on TECH. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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.

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.