Renaissance Technologies LLC Decreases Position in BioLife Solutions, Inc. $BLFS

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 207,128 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 17,572 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.42% of BioLife Solutions worth $3,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLFS. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions in the first quarter valued at about $52,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 26.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,614 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,035,757 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,761,000 after purchasing an additional 10,587 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 25,422 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in BioLife Solutions by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 190,866 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,642,000 after purchasing an additional 4,253 shares in the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at BioLife Solutions

In other BioLife Solutions news, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 650,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $15,405,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 4,757,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,744,810.50. This represents a 12.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 1,200,000 shares of company stock valued at $28,125,000 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLFS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Lake Street Capital lowered shares of BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research raised BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen cut BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.38.

BioLife Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ BLFS opened at $34.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.88 and a beta of 1.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.07. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.86 and a fifty-two week high of $34.76.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.88. The firm had revenue of $28.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.80 million. BioLife Solutions had a return on equity of 2.80% and a net margin of 53.29%. As a group, analysts forecast that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

BioLife Solutions Company Profile

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) specializes in biopreservation and cold chain workflow solutions for cell and gene therapies, regenerative medicine and other advanced biologics. The company develops and markets proprietary cryopreservation media and technology platforms designed to maintain cell viability and functionality during processing, storage and transport. BioLife’s product portfolio addresses critical steps in the manufacturing and distribution of cell-based products, helping life science researchers and biopharmaceutical manufacturers protect and preserve living cells.

The company’s flagship offerings include CryoStor, a family of serum-free cryopreservation media; HypoThermosol, a hypothermic storage solution for short-term cell and tissue preservation; and the ThawSTAR system, an automated cell thawing instrument that delivers controlled and reproducible warming of frozen cell therapies.