Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Has $17.70 Million Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 45.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 245,731 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,288 shares during the quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. owned 0.15% of Bio-Techne worth $17,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,339,370,000 after purchasing an additional 275,644 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,001,296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $287,488,000 after acquiring an additional 98,660 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,820,464 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $275,188,000 after acquiring an additional 358,756 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its position in Bio-Techne by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,581,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $257,995,000 after purchasing an additional 65,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $147,002,000 after purchasing an additional 354,478 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TECH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” 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 Thursday. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total value of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $49.97 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $7.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.08. 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 52-week low of $46.44 and a 52-week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its 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 return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

About Bio-Techne

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.