CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Has $371,000 Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC cut its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,931 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 669 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,339,370,000 after buying an additional 275,644 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 95,133 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $147,002,000 after purchasing an additional 354,478 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth about $137,301,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $105,574,000 after buying an additional 51,687 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TECH. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $51.72 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $64.44 and its 200 day moving average is $70.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.24, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $50.35 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.

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

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % 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.

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.