Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Lowers Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lowered its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,730 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,965 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 4.8% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 55.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,651 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,313,000 after purchasing an additional 4,356 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,188,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TECH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” 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 target price for the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.0 %

TECH opened at $50.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $46.01 and a one year high of $85.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.55.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

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.