13,336 Shares in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Acquired by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 13,336 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $961,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth about $89,724,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth about $44,479,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $147,002,000 after acquiring an additional 354,478 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $20,071,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 8,079.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 242,525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,469,000 after acquiring an additional 239,560 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ TECH opened at $58.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 59.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.62. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $58.20 and a 1 year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. As a group, analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com cut Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.14.

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.