Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $638,000 Position in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 24,584 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $638,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned 0.05% of BioLife Solutions at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in BioLife Solutions by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 260,315 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $6,758,000 after buying an additional 10,836 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC increased its position in BioLife Solutions by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 352,205 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $9,143,000 after buying an additional 54,100 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in BioLife Solutions by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 41,179 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in BioLife Solutions by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 244,247 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $6,341,000 after buying an additional 53,532 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in BioLife Solutions by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 495,970 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $12,875,000 after buying an additional 70,875 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BioLife Solutions

In other BioLife Solutions news, CFO Troy Wichterman sold 987 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 121,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,290,468.58. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Aby J. Mathew sold 7,604 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.33, for a total transaction of $207,817.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 276,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,551,688.95. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,978 shares of company stock worth $322,724. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLFS opened at $25.83 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.37 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. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.49. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $14.84 and a one year high of $29.55.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.21) EPS. Research analysts predict that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. KeyCorp upped 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. Northland Securities upped their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.86.

BioLife Solutions 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.