Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Sells 16,302 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lessened its holdings in Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,325 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 16,302 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $7,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Bio-Techne by 349.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,115,133 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $284,555,000 after acquiring an additional 3,978,026 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Bio-Techne by 164.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,012,818 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $235,994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,495,328 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $99,494,000. Durable Capital Partners LP bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at about $77,658,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,477,000. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH opened at $52.50 on Thursday. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52-week low of $43.19 and a 52-week high of $72.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 4.49. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $52.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.47. The firm has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 76.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 1.37.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The business had revenue of $311.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.11 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. Bio-Techne’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 46.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 price target on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore set a $50.00 price target on Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bio-Techne from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.17.

Bio-Techne Profile

Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.