Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 9,146 Shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) by 35.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,763 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,146 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in BioLife Solutions were worth $435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 260,315 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,758,000 after purchasing an additional 10,836 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 352,205 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,143,000 after purchasing an additional 54,100 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 41,179 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 244,247 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,341,000 after purchasing an additional 53,532 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 495,970 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,875,000 after purchasing an additional 70,875 shares during the period. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on BLFS shares. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Craig Hallum increased their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Northland Securities increased their price target 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. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, KeyCorp increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.43.

BioLife Solutions Stock Up 5.7 %

Shares of BLFS opened at $26.25 on Thursday. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.84 and a 12 month high of $29.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $26.67 and its 200-day moving average is $25.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of -24.76 and a beta of 1.91. 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 (NASDAQ:BLFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.32. The business had revenue of $22.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the business posted ($0.21) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BioLife Solutions news, CFO Troy Wichterman sold 987 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Aby J. Mathew sold 7,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.33, for a total transaction of $207,817.32. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 276,315 shares in the company, valued at $7,551,688.95. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,978 shares of company stock worth $322,724. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.