BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $29.81 and last traded at $28.6830, with a volume of 652639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BLFS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.00.

BioLife Solutions Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of -352.79 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.03. The firm 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%. Equities research analysts expect that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post 0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BioLife Solutions

In other news, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 650,000 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total transaction of $15,405,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 4,757,165 shares in the company, valued at $112,744,810.50. The trade was a 12.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,200,000 shares of company stock valued at $28,125,000. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $283,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in BioLife Solutions by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,422 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in BioLife Solutions during the first quarter valued at $1,091,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in BioLife Solutions during the first quarter valued at $153,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in BioLife Solutions by 2,399.5% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 248,474 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $5,352,000 after buying an additional 238,533 shares during the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.