BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) Short Interest Up 5.8% in December

BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,310,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the December 15th total of 3,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 379,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.7 days.

Insider Transactions at BioLife Solutions

In other news, CEO Greef Roderick De sold 46,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.43, for a total value of $1,098,773.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 414,958 shares in the company, valued at $9,722,465.94. This represents a 10.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Aby J. Mathew sold 17,604 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.05, for a total transaction of $352,960.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 284,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,703,062.10. This represents a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,129 shares of company stock worth $2,344,018 over the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in BioLife Solutions by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,412,316 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $35,364,000 after purchasing an additional 95,788 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 842,771 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $21,107,000 after buying an additional 18,473 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of BioLife Solutions by 40.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 19,463 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 5,638 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in BioLife Solutions by 20.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 64,423 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $1,613,000 after acquiring an additional 10,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in BioLife Solutions by 261.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 127,215 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $2,726,000 after acquiring an additional 92,021 shares in the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BioLife Solutions Price Performance

BLFS traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $26.14. 146,801 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 265,856. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.62. BioLife Solutions has a 52-week low of $14.50 and a 52-week high of $28.88. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.66 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLFS has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp lifted their price target on BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Northland Securities lifted their target price on shares of BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of BioLife Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of BioLife Solutions from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.43.

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.