Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Short Interest Up 28.6% in February

Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,080,000 shares, a growth of 28.6% from the January 31st total of 3,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Techne

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TECH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,339,370,000 after purchasing an additional 275,644 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $767,428,000 after buying an additional 1,229,954 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $511,232,000 after buying an additional 95,133 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Bio-Techne by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,702,942 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $338,756,000 after buying an additional 317,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Bio-Techne by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $287,488,000 after buying an additional 98,660 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of TECH stock opened at $62.20 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne has a 12-month low of $58.98 and a 12-month 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.89.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its 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 forecast that Bio-Techne will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TECH shares. KeyCorp upped their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

About Bio-Techne

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.