Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 34,826 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Wells Fargo & Company MN decreased its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 40.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,397 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 34,826 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN's holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 35.0% during the 4th 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. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,355.6% during the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on TECH. Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.14.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $49.08 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $58.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.23. 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 cap of $7.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $46.01 and a one year high of $85.57.

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 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%. Equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This trade 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business'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 value of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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