Wealthfront Advisers LLC Acquires Shares of 6,772 Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,772 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $488,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $805,000. S&CO Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 82,445 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $5,938,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 20,917 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 1,764 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,078,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 277,925 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $20,897,000 after acquiring an additional 116,331 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH stock traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $60.33. 992,431 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,071,198. The company has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a PE ratio of 60.94, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $56.60 and a 12-month high of $85.57. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $68.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.06. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Remove Ads

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value 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 $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on TECH shares. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.25.

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.