BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BLFS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research cut BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

BioLife Solutions Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -359.07 and a beta of 2.00.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.03. BioLife Solutions had a positive return on equity of 1.81% and a negative net margin of 2.80%.The business had revenue of $27.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.66 million. As a group, analysts forecast that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post 0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BioLife Solutions

In related news, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 650,000 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 4,757,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,744,810.50. The trade was a 12.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,200,000 shares of company stock worth $28,125,000. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BioLife Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLFS. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,180,824 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $125,273,000 after buying an additional 1,113,972 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 73.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 904,103 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $17,250,000 after purchasing an additional 382,776 shares during the period. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in BioLife Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $9,153,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,932,191 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $95,080,000 after purchasing an additional 332,747 shares during the period. Finally, Granahan Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 49.7% in the 1st quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 722,057 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $13,777,000 after buying an additional 239,701 shares during the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is owned by 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.