BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Acquires 270,516 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 6,283.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 274,821 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 270,516 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S owned approximately 0.17% of Bio-Techne worth $19,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 953,786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,705,000 after purchasing an additional 53,217 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth approximately $224,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 72,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,201,000 after acquiring an additional 979 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 104.8% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $48.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.59, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $46.44 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TECH. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $1,035,067.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.