BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Shares Up 4.2%

Shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) shot up 4.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $18.02 and last traded at $17.73. 125,793 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 406,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of BioLife Solutions in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.40.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $794.11 million, a P/E ratio of -11.43 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.43.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $32.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.70 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 46.37% and a negative return on equity of 13.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post -0.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BioLife Solutions

In other news, CMO Todd Berard sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total value of $156,700.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 129,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,031,521.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Todd Berard sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total transaction of $156,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 129,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,031,521.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sarah Aebersold sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.65, for a total transaction of $70,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 65,843 shares in the company, valued at $1,162,128.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,996 shares of company stock valued at $562,145. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BioLife Solutions

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLFS. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in BioLife Solutions by 167.2% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,630 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,346 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 5,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,622 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.