Legal & General Group Plc Has $51.66 Million Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 717,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 210,183 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.45% of Bio-Techne worth $51,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Bio-Techne by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,355.6% during the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

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Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH stock traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $51.07. 1,295,257 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,185,822. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.07 billion, a PE ratio of 51.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $46.44 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 (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, equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on TECH. Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five 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 price target 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.