Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $20.66 Million in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 795,998 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $20,664,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 1.72% of BioLife Solutions as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in BioLife Solutions by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,295 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in BioLife Solutions during the 4th quarter worth $171,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS bought a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Aby J. Mathew sold 10,589 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total value of $239,946.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 309,576 shares in the company, valued at $7,014,992.16. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Troy Wichterman sold 4,151 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $103,775.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 116,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,920,225. This trade represents a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,127 shares of company stock worth $1,676,533. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BLFS. 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 research note on Thursday, March 6th. Northland Securities increased their price target on BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded BioLife Solutions from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BioLife Solutions presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.17.

BioLife Solutions Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of BLFS traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $24.33. 88,836 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 376,718. The stock has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.95 and a beta of 1.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $29.55.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.21) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current 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.