Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Has $5.05 Million Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 70,157 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $5,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in TECH. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 41,103 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,285,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 4.8% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,755,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 55.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,651 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 1,656 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 17.7% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,313,000 after buying an additional 4,356 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TECH. Citigroup reduced 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird cut Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 3.6 %

NASDAQ TECH opened at $52.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.30 billion, a PE ratio of 53.06, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12 month low of $46.44 and a 12 month high of $85.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.87 and a 200-day moving average of $69.34. 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 (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

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.