BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Trading 6.7% Higher – Here’s Why

BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) rose 6.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $21.95 and last traded at $22.1460. Approximately 40,764 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 397,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -288.09 and a beta of 1.97.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. BioLife Solutions had a positive return on equity of 1.81% and a negative net margin of 2.80%.The company had revenue of $27.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.66 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Karen A. Foster sold 96,923 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.15, for a total value of $1,952,998.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 113,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,291,901.30. The trade was a 46.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 99,641 shares of company stock valued at $2,009,000. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLFS. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,180,824 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $125,273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113,972 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,932,191 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $95,080,000 after purchasing an additional 332,747 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in BioLife Solutions by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,087,386 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $74,653,000 after purchasing an additional 119,868 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in BioLife Solutions by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,505,593 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $36,405,000 after purchasing an additional 49,028 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,080,371 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $23,271,000 after buying an additional 109,959 shares in the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.