Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 3,141 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,237 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,141 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $4,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $89,724,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $147,002,000 after purchasing an additional 354,478 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $20,071,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 4,392.8% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 123,013 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,861,000 after purchasing an additional 120,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Broadcrest Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 100.0% in the third quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,986,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on TECH. Robert W. Baird cut Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.29.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 0.8 %

Bio-Techne stock opened at $61.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $60.94 and a one year high of $85.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a PE ratio of 62.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $71.92 and its 200 day moving average is $73.16.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 firm’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 directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. The trade was 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.

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.