American Century Companies Inc. Sells 24,862 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 681,981 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 24,862 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $49,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Bio-Techne by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,395,993 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $511,232,000 after buying an additional 95,133 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Bio-Techne by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,040,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $147,002,000 after purchasing an additional 354,478 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Bio-Techne by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,465,690 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $105,574,000 after purchasing an additional 51,687 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Bio-Techne during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,724,000. Finally, American Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,114,393 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,073,000 after purchasing an additional 27,508 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ TECH opened at $59.38 on Thursday. 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.64. The company has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Activity at Bio-Techne

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W cut Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.25.

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.