Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by Fred Alger Management LLC

Fred Alger Management LLC decreased its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 572,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 79,247 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC owned 0.36% of Bio-Techne worth $41,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% during 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 during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 43,144 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.14.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $48.75 on Thursday. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $46.01 and a one year high of $85.57. The firm has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $55.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.52. 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 (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $316.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.92 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

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.