1620 Investment Advisors Inc. Increases Position in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS)

1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) by 41.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,295 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BioLife Solutions were worth $60,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 7.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,412,316 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $35,364,000 after purchasing an additional 95,788 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 842,771 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $21,107,000 after purchasing an additional 18,473 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 40.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 19,463 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 5,638 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 20.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 64,423 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,613,000 after purchasing an additional 10,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in BioLife Solutions during the third quarter worth about $1,018,000. 93.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BioLife Solutions 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 transaction of $26,668.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 121,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,290,468.58. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sarah Aebersold sold 2,695 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.44, for a total transaction of $68,560.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,098,117.60. This represents a 5.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,117 shares of company stock worth $534,442. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLFS has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Northland Securities increased their target price on shares of BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of BioLife Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of BioLife Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.86.

BioLife Solutions Stock Down 0.3 %

BLFS stock opened at $24.99 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of -23.58 and a beta of 2.04. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.84 and a 12 month high of $29.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last announced its 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. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 38.98% and a negative return on equity of 6.61%. The firm had revenue of $22.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.21) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About BioLife Solutions

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.