Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Boosts Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,131 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,513 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.09% of Bio-Techne worth $10,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,650 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after buying an additional 5,295 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after acquiring an additional 16,038 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $1,188,000. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 100.0% during the third quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,986,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TECH. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup decreased their price target 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 shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $64.37 on Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $58.98 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.67. The company has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.02, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Bio-Techne’s dividend 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.