Values First Advisors Inc. Sells 1,266 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Values First Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,310 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,266 shares during the period. Bio-Techne makes up 1.1% of Values First Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the second quarter valued at about $564,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 674.2% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,378 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at about $185,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 6.0% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.8% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 16,347 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $68.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a PE ratio of 69.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.15. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $61.16 and a 12-month high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.57.

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.