William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 239,100 Shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 910,348 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 239,100 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BioLife Solutions were worth $23,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLFS. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,469 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $255,000. Institutional investors own 93.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Aby J. Mathew sold 1,597 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $39,925.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 260,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,515,025. This represents a 0.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sarah Aebersold sold 2,695 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 43,165 shares in the company, valued at $1,098,117.60. This trade represents a 5.88 % 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of BioLife Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Northland Securities boosted their target price on shares of BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.86.

BioLife Solutions Stock Down 2.3 %

BLFS stock opened at $25.33 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.90 and a beta of 2.04. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.84 and a 12 month high of $29.55.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 3rd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 38.98% and a negative return on equity of 6.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.21) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current 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.