Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Acquires Shares of 12,202 Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,202 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $879,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $3,497,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Bio-Techne by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,078 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1,355.6% in the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weitz Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 707.7% during the fourth quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 381,250 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,461,000 after buying an additional 334,050 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’s 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 owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on TECH. Citigroup reduced 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 note on Tuesday, March 4th. Baird R W lowered Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Four 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $51.72 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.24, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $49.89 and a 52 week high of $85.57. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.78.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. 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 0.62%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.