Postrock Partners LLC Invests $1.53 Million in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Postrock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 21,170 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,525,000. Bio-Techne accounts for approximately 0.7% of Postrock Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.3% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TECH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $59.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.43. 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 $56.60 and a 52-week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. Equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Techne 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bio-Techne Company 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.