Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 15,948 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 245,952 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 15,948 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $17,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 35.0% in 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. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TECH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a 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, November 12th. Robert W. Baird cut Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.29.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $65.56 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $10.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $72.49 and its 200 day moving average is $73.36. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business’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 directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’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 value of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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.

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.