BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) Rating Lowered to Hold at Maxim Group

Key Points

• Maxim Group downgraded BioLife Solutions from strong-buy to hold, adding to a wave of more cautious analyst views on the stock.
• Several other firms also trimmed their ratings or price targets, and the stock now has a consensus Hold with an average price target of $31.43.
• The company recently posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue, but insiders have been selling shares and a large Repligen acquisition deal has drawn shareholder fairness investigations.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Maxim Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Craig Hallum cut shares of BioLife Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research lowered shares of BioLife Solutions from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. HC Wainwright cut BioLife Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a report on Thursday. Lake Street Capital cut BioLife Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $33.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered BioLife Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.43.

BioLife Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ BLFS opened at $30.77 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.50. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -384.58 and a beta of 1.94. BioLife Solutions has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $32.23.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $27.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.66 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 2.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BioLife Solutions will post 0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BioLife Solutions news, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 650,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $15,405,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,757,165 shares in the company, valued at $112,744,810.50. The trade was a 12.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,200,000 shares of company stock valued at $28,125,000. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of BioLife Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLFS. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in BioLife Solutions in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,113 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of BioLife Solutions by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,673 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.24% of the company's stock.

BioLife Solutions News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BioLife Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Repligen agreed to buy BioLife Solutions for $11.25 in cash and 0.1442 shares of Repligen per BLFS share, a deal that could provide a clear exit value for shareholders. Repligen to buy cell therapy maker BioLife in $1.5 billion deal
• Positive Sentiment: The acquisition gives Repligen access to BioLife’s biopreservation products and expands its cell therapy capabilities, which supports the strategic rationale for the transaction. Repligen to Expand Cell Therapy Capabilities With BioLife Buyout
• Neutral Sentiment: Several law firms announced investigations into whether BioLife shareholders are getting a fair price in the deal, which adds headline risk but does not change the announced terms. BLFS Stock Alert: Halper Sadeh LLC is Investigating Whether BioLife Solutions, Inc. is Obtaining a Fair Price for its Shareholders
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen downgraded BioLife Solutions to Hold, which may temper some near-term enthusiasm after the acquisition news. TD Cowen downgrades BioLife Solutions (BLFS) to a Hold
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder fairness investigations could create uncertainty, legal noise, and potential delay risk around the transaction closing process. Shareholder Alert: The M&A Class Action Firm Announces An Investigation of BioLife Solutions, Inc.

BioLife Solutions Company Profile

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.

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