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

Shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.3750.

Several analysts recently weighed in on BLFS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Maxim Group lowered shares of BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Lake Street Capital downgraded BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

Shares of BioLife Solutions stock opened at $35.07 on Friday. BioLife Solutions has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $35.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.23 and a beta of 1.93.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.88. The business had revenue of $28.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.80 million. BioLife Solutions had a net margin of 53.29% and a return on equity of 2.70%. Sell-side analysts expect that BioLife Solutions will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $15,405,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,757,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,744,810.50. This represents a 12.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,200,000 shares of company stock worth $28,125,000 over the last ninety days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Summit Creek Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC now owns 238,802 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $5,774,000 after purchasing an additional 46,541 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions during the first quarter valued at $874,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $74,653,000 after acquiring an additional 119,868 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 8.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 885,298 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,891,000 after acquiring an additional 66,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granahan Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $13,777,000 after acquiring an additional 239,701 shares during the period. 93.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.