Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Position Raised by Sandhill Capital Partners LLC

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 690,699 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 77,638 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne comprises approximately 4.4% of Sandhill Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC owned 0.44% of Bio-Techne worth $53,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 4.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,305,826 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $225,028,000 after purchasing an additional 143,716 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,476,552 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $168,579,000 after purchasing an additional 300,903 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,399,327 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $185,132,000 after purchasing an additional 70,294 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,880,812 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $128,027,000 after acquiring an additional 241,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,627,073 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $110,755,000 after acquiring an additional 38,223 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total value of $800,592.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,317,607.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 8th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.90.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $62.66. 965,762 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,066,047. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 4.37 and a quick ratio of 3.03. The firm has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.02, a P/E/G ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $70.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.54. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $51.79 and a 1 year high of $89.91.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.19%.

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.

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