Values First Advisors Inc. Sells 1,266 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Values First Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,310 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,266 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne comprises about 1.1% of Values First Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TECH. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $511,232,000 after acquiring an additional 95,133 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $147,002,000 after acquiring an additional 354,478 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $89,724,000. American Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.5% in the third quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,114,393 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $89,073,000 after acquiring an additional 27,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,310 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $88,267,000 after acquiring an additional 17,114 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $68.34 on Wednesday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $61.16 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.15. The firm has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.03, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 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, research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on TECH shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.57.

Bio-Techne Company 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.