Synovus Financial Corp Buys 4,748 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 35.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,971 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,748 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $1,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TECH. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Bio-Techne by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 136,572 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,837,000 after buying an additional 44,865 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Techne by 55.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 9,206 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $663,000 after buying an additional 3,285 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 5,727 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 1,363 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 70,157 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,053,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,581,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $257,995,000 after acquiring an additional 65,686 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Amy E. Herr sold 1,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.96, for a total transaction of $122,685.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,976 shares in the company, valued at $130,336.96. This trade represents a 48.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TECH. Scotiabank increased their price target on Bio-Techne from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Bio-Techne from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $88.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.25.

Bio-Techne Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of Bio-Techne stock opened at $51.07 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.22. 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 $46.44 and a 52-week high of $85.57. The company has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.59, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bio-Techne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

About Bio-Techne

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.