Equitable Trust Co. Acquires New Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Equitable Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 737 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Bio-Techne by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 1,406 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Techne by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 8th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens dropped their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Bio-Techne from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TECH opened at $68.22 on Tuesday. Bio-Techne Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.79 and a fifty-two week high of $89.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.76. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 4.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.43, a P/E/G ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 1.22.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $272.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $277.48 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 14.21%. Equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 26th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Bio-Techne’s payout ratio is currently 23.19%.

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.