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

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

Several other research analysts also recently commented on BLFS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen raised BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

BioLife Solutions Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ BLFS opened at $21.17 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $20.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.16. The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -264.59 and a beta of 1.97. BioLife Solutions has a 12 month low of $17.86 and a 12 month high of $29.62.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $25.66 million. BioLife Solutions had a positive return on equity of 1.81% and a negative net margin of 2.80%. Sell-side analysts expect that BioLife Solutions will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Karen A. Foster sold 96,923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 113,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,291,901.30. The trade was a 46.01% 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 sold 99,641 shares of company stock worth $2,009,000 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BioLife Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 51,217 shares during the period. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,153,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 2.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,967,518 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $75,701,000 after purchasing an additional 70,248 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 14.5% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 608,814 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,531,000 after purchasing an additional 77,095 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 160.5% during the third quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 34,533 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 21,277 shares during the period. 93.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BioLife Solutions Company Profile

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.