Royce & Associates LP Trims Stock Position in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS)

Royce & Associates LP lessened its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 777,282 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after selling 47,851 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.68% of BioLife Solutions worth $20,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions during the third quarter valued at 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 raised its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,469 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Institutional investors own 93.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLFS. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reissued 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 boosted their price objective on shares of BioLife Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Northland Securities boosted their price objective on shares of BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of BioLife Solutions from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned 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.

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BioLife Solutions Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of BLFS stock traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $25.06. 364,522 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 349,434. The stock's 50 day moving average is $26.48 and its 200-day moving average is $25.49. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.64 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.84 and a fifty-two week high of $29.55.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.32. The business had revenue of $22.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.73 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative return on equity of 6.61% and a negative net margin of 38.98%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.21) earnings per share. Analysts predict that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BioLife Solutions

In other news, CMO Todd Berard sold 1,577 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $39,425.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 104,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,624,025. The trade was a 1.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Troy Wichterman sold 987 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.02, for a total transaction of $26,668.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 121,779 shares in the company, valued at $3,290,468.58. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,117 shares of company stock valued at $534,442. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

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.