Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC

Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 754,362 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 31,142 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne makes up about 1.7% of Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC owned about 0.47% of Bio-Techne worth $54,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,339,370,000 after purchasing an additional 275,644 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $767,428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,954 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,581,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $257,995,000 after purchasing an additional 65,686 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.14.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

TECH opened at $50.49 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $46.01 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $55.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.98. The stock has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.00, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 EPS 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%. Analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.