Cibc World Markets Corp Buys 3,631 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,032 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,631 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during 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 during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of TECH opened at $60.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.22, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

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.