Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 28,240 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,552,562 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 28,240 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $183,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Weitz Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 707.7% in the 4th quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 381,250 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,461,000 after acquiring an additional 334,050 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Bio-Techne by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $287,488,000 after acquiring an additional 98,660 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,665 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,932 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,940,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W downgraded Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 6.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $54.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $54.76 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The company has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.41, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.01.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bio-Techne 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.