Palisade Asset Management LLC Has $3.57 Million Stock Position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Palisade Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,259 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne during the third quarter worth $27,000. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Techne during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on TECH. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Stephens reduced their price objective on Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Bio-Techne from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In related news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total transaction of $800,592.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,317,607.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:TECH traded down $0.41 on Wednesday, reaching $77.05. 772,570 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,108,154. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 1.23. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1-year low of $51.79 and a 1-year high of $89.91. The company has a current ratio of 4.08, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.93 and its 200-day moving average is $68.75.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business had revenue of $303.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Bio-Techne’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

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.