Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Acquires 60,109 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 734,675 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,109 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $52,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth about $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

TECH stock opened at $72.81 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.34. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $61.16 and a 12-month high of $85.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.57 billion, a PE ratio of 73.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27.

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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on TECH shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.57.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.