Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Acquires 2,263 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,260 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,263 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,883 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $434,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 22.9% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,735 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,776,000 after purchasing an additional 6,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 754,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,295,000 after purchasing an additional 20,277 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 2.0 %

TECH stock opened at $58.73 on Monday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1-year low of $56.60 and a 1-year high of $85.57. The company has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.32, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.44.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. Research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

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.