Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Decreases Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank decreased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,756 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 979 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,650 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after buying an additional 5,295 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after buying an additional 16,038 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,188,000. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 100.0% in the third quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,986,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of TECH stock opened at $62.16 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $69.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.30. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1-year low of $56.60 and a 1-year high of $85.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a PE ratio of 62.79, a P/E/G 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 (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on TECH. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total value of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.