Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Has $52.92 Million Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 734,675 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 60,109 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned about 0.46% of Bio-Techne worth $52,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TECH. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 23,566 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Bio-Techne by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,951 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Bio-Techne by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 16,821 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $147,002,000 after purchasing an additional 354,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,812 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.57.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.44. 1,706,191 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,272,246. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 68.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 3.26. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $61.16 and a 12-month high of $85.57. The business's 50-day moving average is $74.14 and its 200-day moving average is $74.11.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.