BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Downgraded by Stephens to Hold

Stephens lowered shares of BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BLFS. Craig Hallum cut shares of BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research lowered BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. William Blair set a $31.00 target price on BioLife Solutions in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. TD Cowen downgraded BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.38.

BioLife Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLFS opened at $29.79 on Monday. BioLife Solutions has a 52-week low of $17.86 and a 52-week high of $32.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -372.33 and a beta of 1.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $27.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.56.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last posted its 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 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%. Analysts predict that BioLife Solutions will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BioLife Solutions

In other news, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 650,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total transaction of $15,405,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,757,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,744,810.50. This represents a 12.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,200,000 shares of company stock valued at $28,125,000 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLFS. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in BioLife Solutions by 36.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,996 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 2,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 73.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 904,103 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $17,250,000 after acquiring an additional 382,776 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 885,298 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $16,891,000 after acquiring an additional 66,010 shares in the last quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 49.7% in the first quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 722,057 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,777,000 after purchasing an additional 239,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cannell & Spears LLC raised its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 3.2% in the first quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 26,261 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.