BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on BLFS. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BioLife Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.20.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ BLFS opened at $24.77 on Monday. BioLife Solutions has a 1-year low of $19.10 and a 1-year high of $29.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of -353.81 and a beta of 1.93.

Insider Activity

In other BioLife Solutions news, Director Amy Duross sold 4,523 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $110,858.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,687 shares in the company, valued at $629,588.37. The trade was a 14.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 750,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.55, for a total value of $21,412,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,957,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,077,060.75. The trade was a 11.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 932,891 shares of company stock worth $26,193,244 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions in the first quarter worth $30,789,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 762.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 698,251 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $15,948,000 after purchasing an additional 617,320 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in BioLife Solutions by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,551,054 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $81,106,000 after buying an additional 311,585 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 2,399.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 248,474 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,352,000 after buying an additional 238,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Creek Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BioLife Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,905,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.24% of the company’s stock.

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.