Geneva Capital Management LLC Sells 14,375 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Geneva Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,089,935 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 14,375 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne makes up 1.4% of Geneva Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Geneva Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.69% of Bio-Techne worth $78,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth $44,479,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 46,030 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,316,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 66.4% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,882 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $568,000 after acquiring an additional 3,145 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $62.20 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.83, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $58.98 and a 12 month 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 return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. Research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current 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 was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Baird R W lowered Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Bio-Techne 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.