BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) Short Interest Update

BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,640,000 shares, a decline of 7.1% from the August 15th total of 3,920,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 343,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 10.6 days.

BioLife Solutions Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of BLFS traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.79. The company had a trading volume of 76,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 380,601. BioLife Solutions has a 1 year low of $8.92 and a 1 year high of $26.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.17 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.77.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.08. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 59.88% and a negative return on equity of 10.75%. The company had revenue of $28.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.80 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BioLife Solutions will post -0.36 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLFS. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of BioLife Solutions from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Northland Securities increased their target price on shares of BioLife Solutions from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.20.

Insider Transactions at BioLife Solutions

In other news, insider Sarah Aebersold sold 3,000 shares of BioLife Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.03, for a total value of $63,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,297,193.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in BioLife Solutions by 1,038.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,401,899 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,031,000 after buying an additional 2,191,002 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,592,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in BioLife Solutions by 11.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,868,335 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $53,208,000 after purchasing an additional 296,727 shares during the last quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 1,292,675 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $21,006,000 after purchasing an additional 240,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates purchased a new position in BioLife Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,876,000. 93.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BioLife Solutions Company Profile

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.