National Bank of Canada FI Sells 6,136 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 74,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 6,136 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $5,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Bio-Techne by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 59.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,096 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of TECH stock opened at $51.72 on Monday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $50.35 and a 52-week high of $85.57. 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 stock has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a PE ratio of 52.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.78.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $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 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.