Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,906,162 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $137,301,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.20% of Bio-Techne as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 59.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,096 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. KeyCorp lifted 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. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 4.3 %

TECH stock traded down $2.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,512,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,585,849. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The company has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a PE ratio of 53.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $64.94 and a 200 day moving average of $71.01. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $50.35 and a 12 month high of $85.57.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 39,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents 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.

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.