Royal Bank of Canada Buys 66,010 Shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. $BLFS

Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 885,298 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,010 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in BioLife Solutions were worth $16,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Granahan Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 49.7% during the first quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 722,057 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $13,777,000 after buying an additional 239,701 shares during the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC grew its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 26,261 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 825 shares during the period. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $52,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,614 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,035,757 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $19,761,000 after purchasing an additional 10,587 shares during the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BioLife Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ BLFS opened at $33.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of -424.07 and a beta of 1.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.40 and a 200-day moving average of $24.00. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.86 and a 52-week high of $34.34.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $28.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.80 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 2.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.81%. As a group, analysts predict that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post 0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BioLife Solutions

In other 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 transaction, the insider owned 4,757,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $112,744,810.50. This represents a 12.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,200,000 shares of company stock valued at $28,125,000 over the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLFS. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $30.00 to $31.00 in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. TD Cowen downgraded BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. HC Wainwright lowered BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Lake Street Capital lowered BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.38.

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.