Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 36.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,046 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 6,434 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of TECH. abrdn plc raised its position in Bio-Techne by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 48,042 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,799,000 after purchasing an additional 2,492 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 3.2% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 7,012 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 12.2% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 1,235 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $316,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth about $59,000. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TECH opened at $61.19 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.09. 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 $9.67 billion, a PE ratio of 61.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.27. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.39 and a fifty-two week high of $85.57.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its 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 return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.22%. Analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $130,336.96. The trade was a 48.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction 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 $3,014,619.16. This trade represents a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird downgraded Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W lowered shares of Bio-Techne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp boosted 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.29.

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.