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

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

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

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

BLFS opened at $25.06 on Wednesday. BioLife Solutions has a one year low of $14.84 and a one year high of $29.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.64 and a beta of 2.04.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Sarah Aebersold sold 2,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.44, for a total transaction of $68,560.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,098,117.60. This represents a 5.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Troy Wichterman sold 987 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.02, for a total transaction of $26,668.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 121,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,290,468.58. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,117 shares of company stock worth $534,442. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 13.2% during the fourth 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 worth $1,835,000 after acquiring an additional 8,258 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in BioLife Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in BioLife Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $11,113,000. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in BioLife Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $282,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in BioLife Solutions by 49.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.