Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 169,681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 11,625 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $12,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TECH. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased 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 valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 60.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Bio-Techne by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target 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. Evercore ISI started coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $60.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $56.60 and a 12-month high of $85.57. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $68.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.06.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced 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%. Equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.