BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

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

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright lowered BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Friday, July 17th. William Blair set a $31.00 price target on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $31.00 in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Maxim Group cut shares of BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.38.

BioLife Solutions Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ BLFS opened at $31.50 on Tuesday. BioLife Solutions has a 1-year low of $17.86 and a 1-year high of $33.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.42 and a 200-day moving average of $23.65. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of -393.70 and a beta of 1.94.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. The business 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BioLife Solutions will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BioLife Solutions news, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 650,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $15,405,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 4,757,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,744,810.50. This trade represents a 12.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,200,000 shares of company stock valued at $28,125,000. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLFS. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in BioLife Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Quarry LP increased its position in BioLife Solutions by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,113 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in BioLife Solutions by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,673 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in BioLife Solutions in the 1st quarter worth $52,000. Institutional investors 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.