Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Invests $201,000 in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new position in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 7,724 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLFS. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,469 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in BioLife Solutions in the third quarter worth approximately $255,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.24% of the company’s stock.

BioLife Solutions Stock Performance

BLFS stock opened at $26.17 on Friday. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $14.84 and a one year high of $29.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.69 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 2.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.52.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.32. The company had revenue of $22.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.73 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 38.98% and a negative return on equity of 6.61%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.21) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BLFS shares. StockNews.com raised BioLife Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of BioLife Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Northland Securities increased their price objective on shares of BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Troy Wichterman sold 987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.02, for a total value of $26,668.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 121,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,290,468.58. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Todd Berard sold 1,577 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $39,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 104,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,624,025. This trade represents a 1.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,117 shares of company stock worth $534,442. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

BioLife Solutions Profile

BioLife Solutions, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets bioproduction tools and services for the cell and gene therapy (CGT) industry in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. The company’s products are used in the basic and applied research, and commercial manufacturing of biologic-based therapies.