Cibc World Markets Corp Purchases 3,631 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,032 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,631 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at $89,724,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter valued at $44,479,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $147,002,000 after buying an additional 354,478 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Bio-Techne during the third quarter valued at $20,071,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Bio-Techne by 8,079.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 242,525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,469,000 after buying an additional 239,560 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Baird R W lowered Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 approximately $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

NASDAQ TECH opened at $60.61 on Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a one year low of $56.60 and a one year high of $85.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $68.15 and a 200 day moving average of $71.88. The company has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.22, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.94.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

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.