Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Has $53.12 Million Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lessened its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 688,417 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 10,859 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned 0.44% of Bio-Techne worth $53,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 831.4% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 46,205 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,565,000 after buying an additional 41,244 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 734,105 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $56,646,000 after purchasing an additional 118,534 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 55.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 261,370 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $20,166,000 after purchasing an additional 93,107 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Bio-Techne by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,439,919 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $111,104,000 after purchasing an additional 28,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 38,075.5% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 59,172 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,161,000 after buying an additional 59,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total transaction of $800,592.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 43,097 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,317,607.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ TECH traded up $0.71 during trading on Monday, hitting $77.90. 863,742 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,096,698. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a current ratio of 4.08. The business's fifty day moving average is $72.59 and its 200 day moving average is $71.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.83, a P/E/G ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 1.29. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.79 and a fifty-two week high of $89.91.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business had revenue of $303.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Bio-Techne's revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.56 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, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TECH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Scotiabank began coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Bio-Techne Company 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.

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