State of Alaska Department of Revenue Cuts Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lessened its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 44.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,119 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 14,342 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TECH. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $564,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 674.2% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,378 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $185,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,773 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 16,347 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,307,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TECH shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.57.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company'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 owns 39,004 shares of the company's stock, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH stock traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $65.94. 1,172,566 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,235,146. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $73.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.94. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $61.16 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 66.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27.

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 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

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.