OFI Invest Asset Management Takes $1.08 Million Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 15,500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,078,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,724,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,479,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $147,002,000 after purchasing an additional 354,478 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $20,071,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 8,079.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 242,525 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $17,469,000 after buying an additional 239,560 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on TECH. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of TECH stock traded down $0.36 on Thursday, hitting $59.88. 2,636,250 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,066,782. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $69.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.43. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $56.60 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.47 billion, a PE ratio of 60.48, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

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.