Pembroke Management LTD Trims Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Pembroke Management LTD reduced its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 260,042 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 54,658 shares during the period. Bio-Techne accounts for about 2.4% of Pembroke Management LTD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Pembroke Management LTD owned about 0.16% of Bio-Techne worth $18,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 24,173 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,741,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 171,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,357,000 after buying an additional 49,574 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 736,340 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,641,000 after buying an additional 79,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH opened at $65.94 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $61.16 and a 12-month high of $85.57. The company has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 66.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.59 and a 200 day moving average of $73.73.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Techne 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 transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

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.