Graham Capital Management L.P. Purchases New Position in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS)

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 9,781 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew 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 worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in BioLife Solutions by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,469 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in BioLife Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $171,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS bought a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Institutional investors own 93.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLFS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of BioLife Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.17.

Insider Transactions at BioLife Solutions

In other news, CFO Troy Wichterman sold 25,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total value of $582,067.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 189,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,288,223.72. This represents a 11.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Aby J. Mathew sold 10,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total transaction of $239,946.74. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 309,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,014,992.16. The trade was a 3.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,696 shares of company stock worth $1,665,094 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

BioLife Solutions Stock Up 7.3%

Shares of BLFS stock opened at $23.59 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.25 and a beta of 2.01. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.70 and a 52 week high of $29.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.31.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $23.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.22 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 38.98% and a negative return on equity of 6.61%. Analysts predict that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About BioLife Solutions

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.