CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Cuts Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC decreased its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,931 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 669 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,940,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at about $334,000. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 27,444 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,977,000 after buying an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 46,151 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,324,000 after buying an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,864,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $51.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. The firm has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $64.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.82. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.35 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Baird R W lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.