BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) gapped down before the market opened on Monday after HC Wainwright lowered their price target on the stock from $29.00 to $27.00. The stock had previously closed at $21.02, but opened at $20.30. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. BioLife Solutions shares last traded at $19.60, with a volume of 61,540 shares trading hands.

BLFS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Craig Hallum raised their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Northland Securities raised their target price on BioLife Solutions from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BioLife Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Aby J. Mathew sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.28, for a total value of $232,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 317,716 shares in the company, valued at $7,396,428.48. This represents a 3.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CRO Garrie Richardson sold 3,070 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.12, for a total value of $77,118.40. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 114,773 shares in the company, valued at $2,883,097.76. This trade represents a 2.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,471 shares of company stock valued at $656,330. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in BioLife Solutions by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 842,771 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $21,107,000 after purchasing an additional 18,473 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 64,423 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after buying an additional 10,803 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 7.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,412,316 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,364,000 after buying an additional 95,788 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 5.4% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 12,988 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions during the third quarter worth $28,000. 93.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BioLife Solutions Stock Down 2.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $949.60 million, a PE ratio of -19.31 and a beta of 1.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $23.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.84.

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.