Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Purchased by Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc.

Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1,355.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TECH. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in 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. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Baird R W downgraded Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five 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.com, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the 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 sale, 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. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $57.35 on Wednesday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $56.54 and a 12-month 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 firm has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 57.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.21.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued 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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio 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.