Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Sells 500 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lowered its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 36.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 878 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $63,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 51.5% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

TECH stock opened at $72.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 4.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $74.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.37. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $61.16 and a one year high of $85.57. The company has a market capitalization of $11.57 billion, a PE ratio of 77.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on TECH shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.57.

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.