KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys New Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 52,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,774,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth about $89,724,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $44,479,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $147,002,000 after purchasing an additional 354,478 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,071,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 8,079.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 242,525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,469,000 after buying an additional 239,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on TECH shares. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of 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 research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp boosted their price target 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $59.38 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.98, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $67.23 and its 200-day moving average is $71.64. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $56.60 and a 1 year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

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.