Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by Investment Management Corp of Ontario

Investment Management Corp of Ontario reduced its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,374 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,339,370,000 after acquiring an additional 275,644 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $767,428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,954 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,702,942 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $338,756,000 after acquiring an additional 317,349 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $287,488,000 after acquiring an additional 98,660 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,820,464 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $275,188,000 after purchasing an additional 358,756 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on TECH shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Bio-Techne from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.44.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of TECH stock opened at $51.61 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The company has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.13, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.05. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. The business had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.92 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 39.02%.

Bio-Techne announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the biotechnology company to purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.