Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 1,735 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 63.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,735 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth about $89,724,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth about $44,479,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 21.0% in 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 period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth about $20,071,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 8,079.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 242,525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,469,000 after purchasing an additional 239,560 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $60.89 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $68.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.06. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $56.60 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.51, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

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 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,035,067.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. This represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.25.

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.