BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Stock Rating Lowered by Stephens

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) was downgraded by equities researchers at Stephens from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on BLFS. Zacks Research downgraded BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. William Blair set a $31.00 price target on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Maxim Group lowered shares of BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BioLife Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.38.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

BLFS opened at $29.79 on Monday. BioLife Solutions has a 1-year low of $17.86 and a 1-year high of $32.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -372.33 and a beta of 1.94. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.56.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $27.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.66 million. BioLife Solutions had a positive return on equity of 1.81% and a negative net margin of 2.80%. Research analysts expect that BioLife Solutions will post 0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BioLife Solutions

In other BioLife Solutions news, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 650,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,200,000 shares of company stock worth $28,125,000 over the last ninety days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLFS. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 36.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,996 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised 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 valued at $17,250,000 after buying an additional 382,776 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in BioLife Solutions by 8.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 885,298 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,891,000 after buying an additional 66,010 shares in the last quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC lifted its position in BioLife Solutions by 49.7% during the first quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 722,057 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,777,000 after buying an additional 239,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cannell & Spears LLC grew its stake in BioLife Solutions by 3.2% during the first quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 26,261 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the period. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.