BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen raised BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLFS opened at $21.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -264.59 and a beta of 1.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.16. BioLife Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $17.86 and a fifty-two week high of $29.62.

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, topping 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 positive return on equity of 1.81% and a negative net margin of 2.80%. Research analysts expect that BioLife Solutions will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Karen A. Foster sold 96,923 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.15, for a total transaction of $1,952,998.45. Following the transaction, the insider owned 113,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,291,901.30. This represents a 46.01% 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 sold a total of 99,641 shares of company stock worth $2,009,000 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 3.5% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,898 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 2.9% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 17,800 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 2.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,764 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 138,393 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,346,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 54.1% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,877 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.24% of the company’s stock.

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.