BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . 1,027,581 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 93% from the previous session’s volume of 533,237 shares.The stock last traded at $28.4930 and had previously closed at $28.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLFS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Monday, April 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

BioLife Solutions Trading Up 0.2%

The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -359.07 and a beta of 2.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $24.03 and its 200-day moving average is $22.98.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $25.66 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 2.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.81%. On average, equities analysts forecast that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post 0.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BioLife Solutions news, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 650,000 shares of the company’s 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 directly owned 4,757,165 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,200,000 shares of company stock worth $28,125,000 over the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BioLife Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLFS. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its stake in BioLife Solutions by 85.2% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 111,356 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,841,000 after buying an additional 51,217 shares in the last quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC raised its position in BioLife Solutions by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC now owns 238,802 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $5,774,000 after acquiring an additional 46,541 shares in the last quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in BioLife Solutions in the fourth quarter worth about $9,153,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,967,518 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $75,701,000 after acquiring an additional 70,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Granahan Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 482,356 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,663,000 after acquiring an additional 90,260 shares during the last quarter. 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.