Polen Capital Management LLC Sells 6,683 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Polen Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 24.4% 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 20,760 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 6,683 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were 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 owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.9 %

Bio-Techne stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $60.34. 992,796 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,071,198. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $68.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $56.60 and a 52-week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. On average, analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of 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 lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four 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, the company currently 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.