Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 57.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,125 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 6,844 shares during the period. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $369,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,301,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at $44,479,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,820,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $275,188,000 after purchasing an additional 358,756 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $147,002,000 after buying an additional 354,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weitz Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 707.7% in the 4th quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 381,250 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $27,461,000 after acquiring an additional 334,050 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 3.8 %

NASDAQ TECH traded down $1.88 during trading on Thursday, hitting $48.10. The stock had a trading volume of 2,741,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,193,756. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.08. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $46.44 and a one year high of $85.57. 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 (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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on TECH. Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird cut 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. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % 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 company insiders.

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.