BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) Short Interest Up 5.6% in March

BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,200,000 shares, a growth of 5.6% from the March 15th total of 3,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 412,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

BioLife Solutions Stock Down 5.4 %

BLFS opened at $15.14 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.86. BioLife Solutions has a twelve month low of $8.92 and a twelve month high of $24.50. The firm has a market cap of $685.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.96 and a beta of 1.67.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 46.37% and a negative return on equity of 13.36%. The business had revenue of $32.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.70 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that BioLife Solutions will post -0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BioLife Solutions

In other BioLife Solutions news, Director Amy Duross sold 6,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.86, for a total value of $103,436.10. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $581,804.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other BioLife Solutions news, CEO Greef Roderick De sold 2,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.76, for a total value of $44,279.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,372,673.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Amy Duross sold 6,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.86, for a total transaction of $103,436.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $581,804.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,419 shares of company stock valued at $550,058 in the last 90 days. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioLife Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BioLife Solutions during the 1st quarter worth about $96,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,571,608 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $41,789,000 after acquiring an additional 30,763 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 1,038.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,401,899 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $39,031,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,002 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,755 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meros Investment Management LP grew its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Meros Investment Management LP now owns 392,218 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $6,374,000 after acquiring an additional 20,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.24% of the company’s stock.

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.