Casdin Capital LLC Sells 750,000 Shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. $BLFS

Casdin Capital LLC trimmed its stake in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,957,165 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 750,000 shares during the period. BioLife Solutions makes up about 8.9% of Casdin Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Casdin Capital LLC owned approximately 0.12% of BioLife Solutions worth $144,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in BioLife Solutions by 0.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,599,444 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $91,822,000 after acquiring an additional 18,666 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,087,386 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $74,653,000 after purchasing an additional 119,868 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,505,593 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,405,000 after buying an additional 49,028 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,080,371 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $23,271,000 after buying an additional 109,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,025,170 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $24,791,000 after purchasing an additional 21,787 shares in the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BioLife Solutions Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of BLFS opened at $25.58 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -319.71 and a beta of 2.00. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.86 and a 52-week high of $29.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.95.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $27.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.66 million. BioLife Solutions had a positive return on equity of 1.81% and a negative net margin of 2.80%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post 0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BLFS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BioLife Solutions presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In other BioLife Solutions news, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $15,405,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,757,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,744,810.50. This represents a 12.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,200,000 shares of company stock worth $28,125,000. Corporate 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.