Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Makes New Investment in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 762,903 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,805,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BLFS. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 7.3% in 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 842,771 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $21,107,000 after buying an additional 18,473 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $20,664,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in BioLife Solutions by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 521,937 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $13,549,000 after acquiring an additional 124,165 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in BioLife Solutions by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 495,970 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $12,875,000 after acquiring an additional 70,875 shares during the period. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BioLife Solutions Stock Down 7.0 %

BLFS opened at $20.88 on Monday. 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.51. The stock has a market cap of $981.36 million, a P/E ratio of -19.70 and a beta of 1.93.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.32. The company had revenue of $22.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.73 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative return on equity of 6.61% and a negative net margin of 38.98%. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.21) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Aby J. Mathew sold 10,589 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total transaction of $239,946.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 309,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,014,992.16. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Troy Wichterman sold 4,151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $103,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 116,809 shares in the company, valued at $2,920,225. This represents a 3.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 70,092 shares of company stock worth $1,635,609. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Northland Securities boosted their price objective on BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on BioLife Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. KeyCorp raised their target price on BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BioLife Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.17.

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.