BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Receives Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $32.00 price objective on the medical equipment provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on BLFS. Wall Street Zen lowered BioLife Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

BioLife Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of BLFS opened at $25.12 on Monday. BioLife Solutions has a 1 year low of $19.10 and a 1 year high of $29.62. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -358.81 and a beta of 1.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BioLife Solutions news, CEO Greef Roderick De sold 37,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $1,031,803.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 489,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,376,945.40. This represents a 7.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Troy Wichterman sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.72, for a total value of $771,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 152,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,929,218.68. This represents a 16.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 937,664 shares of company stock valued at $26,311,309. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLFS. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in BioLife Solutions by 0.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,599,444 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $91,822,000 after acquiring an additional 18,666 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,967,518 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $75,701,000 after purchasing an additional 70,248 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in BioLife Solutions by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,080,371 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $23,271,000 after purchasing an additional 109,959 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in BioLife Solutions by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,003,383 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $25,592,000 after buying an additional 20,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in BioLife Solutions by 3.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 921,105 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $19,842,000 after buying an additional 33,849 shares during the period. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BioLife Solutions

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.