Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC Sells 6,844 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 57.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,125 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 6,844 shares during the period. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Bio-Techne by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,650 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after buying an additional 5,295 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Bio-Techne by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,119,000 after acquiring an additional 16,038 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,188,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 254,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,298,000 after purchasing an additional 25,650 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 79,629 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on TECH shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ TECH opened at $50.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.23, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.59. 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 $46.44 and a 12-month 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 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

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.