International Assets Investment Management LLC Invests $941,000 in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,191 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $941,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 4.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,305,826 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $225,028,000 after buying an additional 143,716 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 13.8% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,476,552 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $168,579,000 after buying an additional 300,903 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 9.4% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,329,033 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $154,881,000 after buying an additional 200,032 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 14.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,880,812 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $128,027,000 after buying an additional 241,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.4% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,627,073 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $110,755,000 after buying an additional 38,223 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TECH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Stephens lowered their price target on Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.90.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH stock traded up $0.89 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.69. 1,217,170 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,068,375. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 4.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a PE ratio of 46.17, a PEG ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 1.22. Bio-Techne Co. has a twelve month low of $51.79 and a twelve month high of $89.91. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $70.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.61.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $272.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $277.48 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 19.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 26th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.19%.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total value of $800,592.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 43,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,317,607.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bio-Techne 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.