BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp increased their target price on BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on BioLife Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Northland Securities increased their target price on BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BioLife Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.86.

BioLife Solutions Stock Performance

BioLife Solutions stock opened at $24.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.58 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.40 and a 200-day moving average of $25.48. BioLife Solutions has a 52 week low of $14.84 and a 52 week high of $29.55.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.32. The business had revenue of $22.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.73 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative return on equity of 6.61% and a negative net margin of 38.98%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.21) EPS. On average, analysts expect that BioLife Solutions will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BioLife Solutions

In related news, CFO Troy Wichterman sold 987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.02, for a total transaction of $26,668.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 121,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,290,468.58. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sarah Aebersold sold 5,632 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.96, for a total value of $140,574.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,144,665.60. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,117 shares of company stock valued at $534,442 over the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 70,686 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 8,258 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $11,113,000. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $282,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,145,347 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,733,000 after purchasing an additional 377,111 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.24% of the company’s stock.

BioLife Solutions Company Profile

BioLife Solutions, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets bioproduction tools and services for the cell and gene therapy (CGT) industry in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. The company’s products are used in the basic and applied research, and commercial manufacturing of biologic-based therapies.