Korea Investment CORP Acquires 31,800 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 75.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,745 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,800 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $5,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,883 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $434,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 22.9% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,735 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,776,000 after acquiring an additional 6,462 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 754,344 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $60,295,000 after purchasing an additional 20,277 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 11.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,830 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction 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 $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 1,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock traded down $3.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $51.72. 2,931,895 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,132,571. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $50.35 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. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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 predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on TECH. Evercore ISI started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.25.

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.