Mariner LLC Sells 565 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Mariner LLC decreased its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,391 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 565 shares during the period. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TECH. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,078 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 1,355.6% in the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.14.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $47.51 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $58.69 and its 200 day moving average is $68.37. The company has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a PE ratio of 47.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $46.01 and a 1 year high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 the 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.