Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Price Target Cut to $8.00

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) had its target price dropped by Scotiabank from $15.00 to $8.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price indicates a potential upside of 471.43% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on PACB. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com raised Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $8.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.00 to $2.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.55.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PACB opened at $1.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $375.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.16 and a beta of 1.83. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 12-month low of $1.25 and a 12-month high of $14.55. The company has a current ratio of 7.81, a quick ratio of 7.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.69.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $58.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.96 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 40.23% and a negative net margin of 152.97%. The business’s revenue was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.35) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -1.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PACB. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 190.5% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,438,572 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,299,000 after purchasing an additional 5,533,953 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC grew 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 valued at $338,487,000 after purchasing an additional 4,681,833 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 68.5% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,284,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,456,000 after purchasing an additional 4,179,997 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,789,552 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $262,806,000 after purchasing an additional 3,514,792 shares during the period. Finally, Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 214.3% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 4,881,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,328,729 shares during the period.

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.