BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,027,581 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 93% from the previous session’s volume of 533,237 shares.The stock last traded at $28.4930 and had previously closed at $28.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented 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 restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Monday, April 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -352.96 and a beta of 2.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.03.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $27.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 anticipate that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post 0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $15,405,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,757,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,744,810.50. This represents a 12.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,200,000 shares of company stock valued at $28,125,000 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in BioLife Solutions by 50.9% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,113 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in BioLife Solutions by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,673 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.