Bamco Inc. NY Sells 308,556 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Bamco Inc. NY reduced its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,136,984 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 308,556 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne makes up approximately 0.8% of Bamco Inc. NY's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Bamco Inc. NY owned about 2.60% of Bio-Techne worth $297,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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, February 6th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank boosted 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. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of TECH stock traded up $1.03 on Wednesday, reaching $48.75. 3,467,963 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,228,673. The stock has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of 49.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $46.01 and a one year high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.52.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

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.