Bleakley Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 2,803 Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,803 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 305.0% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total transaction of $800,592.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 43,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,317,607.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 2.3 %

TECH stock opened at $64.01 on Wednesday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $51.79 and a 12 month high of $89.91. The firm has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a PE ratio of 46.38, a P/E/G ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 4.37 and a quick ratio of 3.03.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 14.21%. The business had revenue of $272.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $277.48 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 26th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on TECH. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.11.

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.