BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $31.49 and last traded at $31.0410, with a volume of 2188010 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.19.

Key BioLife Solutions News

Here are the key news stories impacting BioLife Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Repligen agreed to buy BioLife Solutions for $11.25 in cash and 0.1442 shares of Repligen per BLFS share, a deal that could provide a clear exit value for shareholders. Repligen to buy cell therapy maker BioLife in $1.5 billion deal
• Positive Sentiment: The acquisition gives Repligen access to BioLife’s biopreservation products and expands its cell therapy capabilities, which supports the strategic rationale for the transaction. Repligen to Expand Cell Therapy Capabilities With BioLife Buyout
• Neutral Sentiment: Several law firms announced investigations into whether BioLife shareholders are getting a fair price in the deal, which adds headline risk but does not change the announced terms. BLFS Stock Alert: Halper Sadeh LLC is Investigating Whether BioLife Solutions, Inc. is Obtaining a Fair Price for its Shareholders
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen downgraded BioLife Solutions to Hold, which may temper some near-term enthusiasm after the acquisition news. TD Cowen downgrades BioLife Solutions (BLFS) to a Hold
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder fairness investigations could create uncertainty, legal noise, and potential delay risk around the transaction closing process. Shareholder Alert: The M&A Class Action Firm Announces An Investigation of BioLife Solutions, Inc.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BLFS. HC Wainwright cut BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $31.00 in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen downgraded shares of BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Lake Street Capital lowered shares of BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BioLife Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.43.

BioLife Solutions Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -384.58 and a beta of 1.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.50.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $27.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.66 million. BioLife Solutions had a positive return on equity of 1.81% and a negative net margin of 2.80%. On average, research analysts predict that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post 0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the insider owned 4,757,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,744,810.50. The trade was a 12.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,200,000 shares of company stock valued at $28,125,000. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BioLife Solutions

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 1,113,972 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake 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 valued at $95,080,000 after buying an additional 332,747 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,087,386 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $74,653,000 after acquiring an additional 119,868 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,505,593 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $36,405,000 after acquiring an additional 49,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 11.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,080,371 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $23,271,000 after acquiring 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.