World Investment Advisors Trims Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

World Investment Advisors decreased its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,255 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,702 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 275,644 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 worth $511,232,000 after buying an additional 95,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 98,660 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $147,002,000 after acquiring an additional 354,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at $137,301,000. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on TECH shares. 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 on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company 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 six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ TECH opened at $51.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.24, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $64.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.82. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $50.35 and a 1 year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

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.