Brokerages Set BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) Target Price at $32.00

BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

BLFS has been the subject of several research reports. Northland Securities set a $34.00 target price on BioLife Solutions in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

BioLife Solutions Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of BLFS stock opened at $19.17 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.58. BioLife Solutions has a 12 month low of $17.86 and a 12 month high of $29.62. The company has a market capitalization of $925.91 million, a P/E ratio of -174.26 and a beta of 1.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Karen A. Foster sold 96,923 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 113,742 shares in the company, valued at $2,291,901.30. This trade represents a 46.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Troy Wichterman sold 990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.59, for a total value of $25,334.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 150,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,857,590.14. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 101,956 shares of company stock worth $2,068,241 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,180,824 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $125,273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113,972 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,932,191 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $95,080,000 after purchasing an additional 332,747 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 280.4% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 36,262 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $877,000 after purchasing an additional 26,729 shares during the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. acquired a new position in BioLife Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,747,000. Finally, Sandler Capital Management acquired a new position in BioLife Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $765,000. 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.