Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,621 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,934 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position 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 buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised 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 worth $55,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $60.34 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.97. The company has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. 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 fifty-two week low of $56.60 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on TECH. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.25.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In related 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.