Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. reduced its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,730 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,965 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,594,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,339,370,000 after acquiring an additional 275,644 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,654,267 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $767,428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,954 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Bio-Techne by 2.5% during the fourth 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,820,464 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $275,188,000 after purchasing an additional 358,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.9% in 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 during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TECH shares. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Baird R W downgraded Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 research report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.14.

Bio-Techne Stock Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ TECH opened at $50.25 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $46.01 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.55. The firm has a market cap of $7.94 billion, a PE ratio of 50.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Bio-Techne’s dividend 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.