Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $4.78 Million Position in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) by 4.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 190,715 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,580 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BioLife Solutions were worth $4,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in BioLife Solutions by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 64,423 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after acquiring an additional 10,803 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 842,771 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $21,107,000 after purchasing an additional 18,473 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 7.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,412,316 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,364,000 after purchasing an additional 95,788 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in BioLife Solutions by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 12,988 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in BioLife Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Aby J. Mathew sold 7,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.33, for a total transaction of $207,817.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 276,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,551,688.95. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 64,259 shares of company stock worth $1,424,708. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

BioLife Solutions Stock Up 0.8 %

BioLife Solutions stock opened at $26.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.70 and a beta of 1.91. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.50 and a fifty-two week high of $28.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BLFS shares. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright reduced their price objective on shares of BioLife Solutions from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BioLife Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

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.