Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 40.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,574 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $12,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted 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 acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Bio-Techne Price Performance

TECH stock opened at $65.94 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $73.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.90. Bio-Techne Co. has a 12-month low of $61.16 and a 12-month high of $85.57. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 66.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Bio-Techne 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.