Royal Bank of Canada Raises Position in BioLife Solutions, Inc. $BLFS

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) by 762.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 698,251 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 617,320 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 1.47% of BioLife Solutions worth $15,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in BioLife Solutions by 9.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,551,054 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $81,106,000 after buying an additional 311,585 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in BioLife Solutions during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,789,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,145,347 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $29,733,000 after buying an additional 377,111 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 13.7% in the first quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP now owns 947,085 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $21,631,000 after buying an additional 113,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 12.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 897,421 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $20,497,000 after buying an additional 101,423 shares in the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BLFS shares. Stephens started coverage on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of BioLife Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seven have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.29.

Insider Transactions at BioLife Solutions

In other BioLife Solutions news, CMO Todd Berard sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.53, for a total value of $255,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 124,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,181,497.54. This represents a 7.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $12,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,707,165 shares in the company, valued at $163,654,826. The trade was a 6.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,016,359 shares of company stock valued at $23,902,747 in the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ:BLFS opened at $26.40 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.27. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.10 and a 1-year high of $29.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -219.98 and a beta of 1.78.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.31). The company had revenue of $25.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.71 million. BioLife Solutions had a positive return on equity of 0.16% and a negative net margin of 5.39%. BioLife Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.