BioLife Solutions, Inc. $BLFS Stake Lessened by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP cut its stake in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 417,090 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 54,839 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in BioLife Solutions were worth $10,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 0.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,599,444 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $91,822,000 after acquiring an additional 18,666 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,087,386 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $74,653,000 after acquiring an additional 119,868 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 11.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,080,371 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $23,271,000 after acquiring an additional 109,959 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 2.1% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,003,383 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,592,000 after acquiring an additional 20,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 16.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 671,731 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,469,000 after acquiring an additional 97,354 shares in the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

BLFS stock opened at $24.50 on Thursday. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.86 and a 12 month high of $29.62. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of -306.21 and a beta of 1.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.85.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 2.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.81%. The business had revenue of $27.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.66 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research cut shares of BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BioLife Solutions presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity at BioLife Solutions

In related news, insider Karen A. Foster sold 96,923 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.15, for a total value of $1,952,998.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 113,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,291,901.30. This represents a 46.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 650,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total transaction of $15,405,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 4,757,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $112,744,810.50. This trade represents a 12.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,299,641 shares of company stock valued at $30,134,000. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

BioLife Solutions Profile

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) specializes in biopreservation and cold chain workflow solutions for cell and gene therapies, regenerative medicine and other advanced biologics. The company develops and markets proprietary cryopreservation media and technology platforms designed to maintain cell viability and functionality during processing, storage and transport. BioLife’s product portfolio addresses critical steps in the manufacturing and distribution of cell-based products, helping life science researchers and biopharmaceutical manufacturers protect and preserve living cells.

The company’s flagship offerings include CryoStor, a family of serum-free cryopreservation media; HypoThermosol, a hypothermic storage solution for short-term cell and tissue preservation; and the ThawSTAR system, an automated cell thawing instrument that delivers controlled and reproducible warming of frozen cell therapies.