Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases 2,263 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,260 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,263 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd now owns 332,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,950,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 251,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $18,585,000 after purchasing an additional 24,816 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 75.8% in the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 73,745 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,312,000 after purchasing an additional 31,800 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 38,728 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 8,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 525,009 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,816,000 after buying an additional 47,129 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $58.73 on Monday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $56.60 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.32, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.44.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its 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 expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird cut 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Scotiabank upped 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the 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 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. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.