Sanchez Wealth Management Group Decreases Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Sanchez Wealth Management Group trimmed its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,133 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. Bio-Techne accounts for approximately 0.4% of Sanchez Wealth Management Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Sanchez Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TECH. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,188,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,119,000 after purchasing an additional 16,038 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Broadcrest Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,986,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 254,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,298,000 after buying an additional 25,650 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on TECH. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Bio-Techne from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.57.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 2.9 %

Bio-Techne stock opened at $72.81 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.55, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $74.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.37. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1 year low of $61.16 and a 1 year high of $85.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 3.26.

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 net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 12.73%. On average, equities analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Bio-Techne 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.