BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Stock Price Up 6%

Shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) rose 6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $23.00 and last traded at $22.98. Approximately 41,300 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 393,618 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLFS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Benchmark upgraded BioLife Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on BioLife Solutions in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on BioLife Solutions from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded BioLife Solutions to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.83.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.09 and a beta of 1.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $21.13 and a 200 day moving average of $18.80.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25) by $0.06. BioLife Solutions had a negative return on equity of 12.89% and a negative net margin of 45.84%. The business had revenue of $31.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.27) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BioLife Solutions news, insider Sarah Aebersold sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.03, for a total transaction of $63,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,683 shares in the company, valued at $1,297,193.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Todd Berard sold 10,000 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.18, for a total value of $201,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 108,894 shares in the company, valued at $2,197,480.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sarah Aebersold sold 3,000 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.03, for a total transaction of $63,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 61,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,297,193.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,215 shares of company stock worth $313,281 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLFS. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 167.2% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,630 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in BioLife Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in BioLife Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $96,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System bought a new position in BioLife Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in BioLife Solutions by 10.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,129 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BioLife Solutions

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.