Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 11,006 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,431,309 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 11,006 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $175,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TECH. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at $89,724,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 354,478 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at about $20,071,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 4,392.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Broadcrest Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 100.0% in the third quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,986,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

TECH stock opened at $61.23 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.85, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.24. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $61.06 and a 12-month high of $85.57.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Baird R W lowered 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 five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.29.

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.