Granite Investment Partners LLC Buys 44,865 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 48.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,572 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 44,865 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned 0.09% of Bio-Techne worth $9,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TECH. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,295 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,119,000 after buying an additional 16,038 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,188,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its position in Bio-Techne by 11.2% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 736,340 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $52,641,000 after acquiring an additional 79,629 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TECH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 3.7 %

TECH traded down $1.87 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.10. 2,741,466 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,194,915. The company's fifty day moving average price is $59.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.86. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 48.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.44 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. As a group, equities 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne's payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value 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 represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

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.