Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on PACB. UBS Group cut shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on 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. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $2.00 price objective (down from $2.50) on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.75 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.79.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Up 4.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PACB opened at $1.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.79. The company has a market cap of $446.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.99 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 9.74 and a quick ratio of 8.64. Pacific Biosciences of California has a one year low of $1.16 and a one year high of $6.09.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.20). Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 42.89% and a negative net margin of 200.40%. The firm had revenue of $39.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.27) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 34,405 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.03, for a total value of $69,842.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,597,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,242,831.62. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michele Farmer sold 24,349 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.88, for a total value of $45,776.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 187,592 shares in the company, valued at $352,672.96. This trade represents a 11.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PACB. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 36,044,362 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $65,961,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637,961 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its holdings 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 worth $39,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,600 shares in the last quarter. Softbank Group CORP. purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California during the fourth quarter valued at $37,426,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 66.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 17,065,331 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,230,000 after buying an additional 6,840,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,327,906 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $10,759,000 after buying an additional 225,034 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.