Palisade Asset Management LLC Sells 160 Shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Palisade Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 46,259 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $3,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.5 %

TECH stock traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 772,570 shares, 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 PEG 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a current ratio of 4.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.75.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $303.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.36 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TECH. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Bio-Techne from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Bio-Techne from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.50.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other Bio-Techne news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,317,607.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

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.