Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Holdings Raised by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 6,283.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 274,821 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 270,516 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S owned about 0.17% of Bio-Techne worth $19,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in TECH. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,650 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,295 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,119,000 after purchasing an additional 16,038 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth $1,188,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 254,034 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $18,298,000 after acquiring an additional 25,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at $3,940,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on TECH. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank raised their price target 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. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $81.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company'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 sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This trade represents 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.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH traded down $0.91 on Friday, hitting $49.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 694,648 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,212,753. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $46.01 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The stock's 50-day moving average is $57.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. The company has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

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.