Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Reduces Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,785 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 520 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $61.07 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.81. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $56.60 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The company has a market cap of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.69, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank lifted 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Finally, Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Insider Activity

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

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.