BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Upgraded by Zacks Research to Strong-Buy Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on BLFS. HC Wainwright lowered BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.38.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

Shares of BioLife Solutions stock opened at $31.50 on Tuesday. BioLife Solutions has a 1 year low of $17.86 and a 1 year high of $33.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.65. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -393.70 and a beta of 1.94.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 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 positive return on equity of 1.81% and a negative net margin of 2.80%. As a group, research analysts expect that BioLife Solutions will post 0.03 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 12.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,200,000 shares of company stock worth $28,125,000 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,113 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 42.4% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,673 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions during the 1st quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.