Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Sells 53,585 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS reduced its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 181,934 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 53,585 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $13,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Bio-Techne by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 24,173 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,741,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 171,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,357,000 after buying an additional 49,574 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 736,340 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,641,000 after acquiring an additional 79,629 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth approximately $322,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $65.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.59 and a 200-day moving average of $73.73. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $61.16 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 66.61, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

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