BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

A number of research analysts have commented on BLFS shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Monday, April 20th.

BioLife Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ BLFS opened at $26.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of -326.21 and a beta of 2.00. BioLife Solutions has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $29.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.92.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $27.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.66 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 2.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.81%. Research analysts predict that BioLife Solutions will post 0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 650,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total transaction of $15,405,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,757,165 shares in the company, valued at $112,744,810.50. The trade was a 12.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 1,200,000 shares of company stock worth $28,125,000 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLFS. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,180,824 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $125,273,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113,972 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 73.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 904,103 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $17,250,000 after buying an additional 382,776 shares in the last quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $9,153,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,932,191 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $95,080,000 after buying an additional 332,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granahan Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 49.7% during the first quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 722,057 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $13,777,000 after buying an additional 239,701 shares in the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BioLife Solutions

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.