Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Upgraded to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) to a sell rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on PACB. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.00 to $2.50 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $8.00 to $3.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $9.05.

Pacific Biosciences of California Price Performance

Shares of PACB stock opened at $1.40 on Wednesday. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 1-year low of $1.25 and a 1-year high of $14.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $4.36 and a 200 day moving average of $6.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 7.21 and a current ratio of 7.81.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.02. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 40.23% and a negative net margin of 152.97%. The company had revenue of $58.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.35) EPS. Pacific Biosciences of California’s quarterly revenue was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pacific Biosciences of California

In related news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $200,017.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 876,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,601.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $200,017.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 876,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,601.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David W. Meline bought 40,000 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.40 per share, with a total value of $176,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,359 shares of company stock valued at $218,843 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 4th quarter worth $4,103,000. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 34,504,273 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $338,487,000 after buying an additional 4,681,833 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 149,131 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,255,000 after buying an additional 40,667 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 452.8% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 330,331 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 270,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 2,201.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,041,624 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,838,000 after buying an additional 2,909,439 shares during the last quarter.

About Pacific Biosciences of California

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc designs, develops, and manufactures sequencing solution to resolve genetically complex problems. The company provides sequencing systems; consumable products, including single molecule real-time (SMRT) technology; long-red sequencing; and various reagent kits designed for specific workflow, such as preparation kit to convert DNA into SMRTbell double-stranded DNA library formats, including molecular biology reagents, such as ligase, buffers, and exonucleases.