GC Wealth Management RIA LLC Makes New Investment in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

GC Wealth Management RIA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,172 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $805,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $862,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH stock traded up $1.43 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $59.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,596,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,057,246. The stock's 50 day moving average is $70.15 and its 200 day moving average is $72.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.47 billion, a PE ratio of 60.61, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $56.66 and a twelve 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 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, research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 32.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird downgraded 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 report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

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.