Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by DF Dent & Co. Inc.

DF Dent & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,201,397 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 97,298 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne accounts for approximately 2.9% of DF Dent & Co. Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. DF Dent & Co. Inc. owned approximately 2.01% of Bio-Techne worth $230,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 275,644 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $511,232,000 after acquiring an additional 95,133 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $147,002,000 after purchasing an additional 354,478 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth approximately $137,301,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 corporate insiders.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 622,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,141,318. The stock's 50-day moving average is $63.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a PE ratio of 52.26, 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 Co. has a one year low of $48.91 and a one year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on TECH. Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.25.

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.