Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 17.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,306 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,170 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $4,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TECH. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $511,232,000 after purchasing an additional 95,133 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 354,478 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,465,690 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $105,574,000 after purchasing an additional 51,687 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth $89,724,000. Finally, American Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,114,393 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $89,073,000 after purchasing an additional 27,508 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

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Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH traded up $0.57 on Thursday, reaching $59.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,604,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,082,888. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $67.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a PE ratio of 60.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $56.60 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last announced 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, research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TECH. Robert W. Baird cut Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value of $1,035,067.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. This trade represents 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 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.