Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires Shares of 13,336 Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,336 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $961,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $511,232,000 after buying an additional 95,133 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $147,002,000 after buying an additional 354,478 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,465,690 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $105,574,000 after acquiring an additional 51,687 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $89,724,000. Finally, American Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,114,393 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $89,073,000 after acquiring an additional 27,508 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction on 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH opened at $58.47 on Wednesday. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $58.20 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The stock has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 59.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $70.43 and its 200-day moving average is $72.62. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. On average, analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on TECH shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank lifted 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, Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.