Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) to a sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on PACB. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $2.00 target price (down previously from $2.50) on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.75 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $2.50 target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pacific Biosciences of California currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.79.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PACB opened at $1.56 on Tuesday. Pacific Biosciences of California has a one year low of $1.16 and a one year high of $6.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1.74 and a 200-day moving average of $1.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 9.74 and a quick ratio of 8.64. The stock has a market cap of $427.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.95 and a beta of 1.92.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.20). Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 200.40% and a negative return on equity of 42.89%. The firm had revenue of $39.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.27) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 34,405 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.03, for a total transaction of $69,842.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,597,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,242,831.62. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michele Farmer sold 24,349 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.88, for a total transaction of $45,776.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 187,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $352,672.96. The trade was a 11.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 36,044,362 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,961,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637,961 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 21,346,480 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $39,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,600 shares during the last quarter. Softbank Group CORP. acquired a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California in the fourth quarter valued at $37,426,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 66.9% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 17,065,331 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,230,000 after acquiring an additional 6,840,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 3.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,327,906 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,759,000 after acquiring an additional 225,034 shares during the last quarter.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

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.