National Bank of Canada FI Sells 6,136 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 6,136 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $5,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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 owns 1,976 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on TECH. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Baird R W lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp upped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $51.72 on Monday. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.35 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $64.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.78.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.62%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.