Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Holdings Boosted by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 75.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,745 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,800 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $5,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TECH. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. 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 during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $862,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of TECH stock opened at $58.63 on Tuesday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $56.60 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The company has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a PE ratio of 59.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $66.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.33.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted 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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. Equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 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 completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI initiated 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.25.

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.