Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 102,916 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 76.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,899 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 102,916 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of TECH. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 921 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 27,698 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 521 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 43,344 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,344,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,652 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH traded up $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.68. 824,808 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,116,338. The company has a market cap of $13.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.62, a PEG ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 1.23. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $51.79 and a 1 year high of $89.91. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $71.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 4.08 and a quick ratio of 2.88.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $303.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.36 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total transaction of $800,592.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 43,097 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,317,607.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TECH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective 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. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.50.

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.

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