Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Stock Position Decreased by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,357 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Summit Trail Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth approximately $322,000. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in Bio-Techne by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 8,846 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 734,675 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,919,000 after buying an additional 60,109 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 23,566 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,951 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TECH. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.57.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 1.3 %

TECH opened at $67.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.94. The company has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 68.12, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.14 and its 200-day moving average is $74.11. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $61.16 and a one year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued 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 analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

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.