BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Shares Up 6.7% – Here’s What Happened

BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS)’s stock price shot up 6.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $21.95 and last traded at $22.1460. 40,764 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 397,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on BLFS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research downgraded BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BioLife Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

BioLife Solutions Trading Up 6.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -275.28 and a beta of 1.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $20.27 and its 200 day moving average is $23.06.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $27.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.66 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 2.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.81%. On average, analysts expect that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BioLife Solutions news, insider Karen A. Foster sold 96,923 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.15, for a total value of $1,952,998.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 113,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,291,901.30. This trade represents a 46.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 99,641 shares of company stock worth $2,009,000. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BioLife Solutions

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Granahan Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 49.7% in the 1st quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 722,057 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $13,777,000 after purchasing an additional 239,701 shares in the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC raised its stake in BioLife Solutions by 3.2% in 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 in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions in the first quarter worth about $52,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in BioLife Solutions by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,614 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,035,757 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $19,761,000 after acquiring an additional 10,587 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.24% of the company’s stock.

BioLife Solutions Company Profile

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.