Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 1,934 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,621 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,934 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $39,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of TECH stock opened at $60.34 on Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52-week low of $56.60 and a 52-week high of $85.57. The stock has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $68.40 and a 200-day moving average of $71.97.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Techne presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.25.

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.