Focus Financial Network Inc. Sells 1,000 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Focus Financial Network Inc. cut its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,780 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 1.2 %

Bio-Techne stock opened at $65.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $73.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.96. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $61.16 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The stock has a market cap of $10.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.61, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has a consensus 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.