William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $77.42 Million Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,074,883 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 35,352 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.68% of Bio-Techne worth $77,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TECH. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position 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 worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 756 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on TECH. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Baird R W lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $62.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.21, 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.21. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $56.60 and a one year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. Research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

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.