Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Has $19.38 Million Stock Holdings in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 251,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,420 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned about 0.16% of Bio-Techne worth $19,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 382.9% in the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 7,153,947 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $592,919,000 after buying an additional 5,672,587 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 1,300.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,982,630 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $247,200,000 after buying an additional 2,769,642 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter valued at $136,489,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 330.8% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,767,115 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $146,458,000 after buying an additional 1,356,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 268.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,069,311 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $88,624,000 after acquiring an additional 779,246 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens decreased 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. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 8th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, 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 note on Friday, February 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Techne

In other news, Director Roeland Nusse sold 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total value of $800,592.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 43,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,317,607.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TECH traded down $1.72 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.51. The stock had a trading volume of 833,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,070,771. Bio-Techne Co. has a 52 week low of $51.79 and a 52 week high of $89.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 4.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $70.89 and its 200 day moving average is $68.77. The stock has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.62, a P/E/G ratio of 7.71 and a beta of 1.22.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last released its earnings results 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). Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 19.58%. The business had revenue of $272.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $277.48 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Bio-Techne’s dividend 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.