Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV Cuts Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV reduced its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 40,490 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 580 shares during the period. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TECH. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $218,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 8.4% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $232,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $8,430,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 33.1% during the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 39,432 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,152,000 after purchasing an additional 9,815 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 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. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $64.92 on Monday. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.41. The company has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is 32.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.29.

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.