Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,763 Shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 213,070 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,763 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.49% of BioLife Solutions worth $4,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 67.4% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 714.2% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,949 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 146.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,934 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BioLife Solutions

In other BioLife Solutions news, EVP Aby J. Mathew sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.32, for a total value of $233,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 272,614 shares in the company, valued at $6,357,358.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L acquired 58,465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.20 per share, for a total transaction of $771,738.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 7,630,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,716,000. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Aby J. Mathew sold 10,000 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.32, for a total transaction of $233,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 272,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,357,358.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,491 shares of company stock worth $591,650 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ BLFS opened at $13.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a current ratio of 3.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.07. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.48 and a 52-week high of $26.96. The company has a market cap of $582.77 million, a PE ratio of -6.94 and a beta of 1.63.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $39.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.93 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 51.20% and a negative return on equity of 9.87%. Sell-side analysts forecast that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of BioLife Solutions to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Craig Hallum lowered their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $29.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lowered their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BioLife Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.60.

BioLife Solutions Company Profile

BioLife Solutions, Inc develops, manufactures, and supplies bioproduction tools and services for the cell and gene therapy industry in the United States, Canada, 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.