Choreo LLC Grows Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Choreo LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,812 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 603 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TECH. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 1.0 %

TECH stock opened at $66.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of 67.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $61.16 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.14 and its 200 day moving average is $74.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 3.26.

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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other 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 value of $1,035,067.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TECH. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” 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 increased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.57.

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.