Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Acquires 60,109 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 734,675 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,109 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned about 0.46% of Bio-Techne worth $52,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $72.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.55, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $61.16 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.34.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on TECH shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.57.

Bio-Techne Company 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.