Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Purchased by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 55.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,651 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 17.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,313,000 after buying an additional 4,356 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth $1,188,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on TECH shares. Baird R W cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the 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 directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % 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.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 1.1 %

Bio-Techne stock opened at $50.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. 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 twelve month low of $46.01 and a twelve month high of $85.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.74.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.