Versor Investments LP Sells 3,237 Shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. $BLFS

Versor Investments LP reduced its stake in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) by 17.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,363 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,237 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in BioLife Solutions were worth $331,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 15,024 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 6.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 259,488 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,927,000 after acquiring an additional 15,241 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 37.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 273,329 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,243,000 after acquiring an additional 74,634 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 762.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 698,251 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,948,000 after acquiring an additional 617,320 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 14.3% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 297,448 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,794,000 after acquiring an additional 37,133 shares during the period. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on BLFS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Friday, August 8th. Stephens began coverage on BioLife Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research cut BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Seven equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 750,000 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.55, for a total value of $21,412,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,957,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,077,060.75. This trade represents a 11.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joydeep Goswami sold 1,666 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $48,297.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 44,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,304,144.14. This represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,807,742 shares of company stock valued at $46,467,584 in the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BioLife Solutions Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of BioLife Solutions stock opened at $27.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -229.73 and a beta of 1.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.01. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.10 and a twelve month high of $29.62.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.31). The firm had revenue of $25.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.71 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 5.39% and a positive return on equity of 0.16%. On average, equities analysts expect that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BioLife Solutions Company 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.