Northern Trust Corp Raises Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,661,954 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 293,193 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.05% of Bio-Techne worth $119,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1,355.6% during the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne 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 sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Bio-Techne from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Bio-Techne from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.88.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ TECH traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.52. 1,258,775 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,244,208. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $46.01 and a 1 year high of $85.57. 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 $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. The business's 50 day moving average is $54.88 and its 200-day moving average is $66.38.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $317.92 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. Bio-Techne's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.