Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Stock Sees Heavy Call Option Buying

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 13,687 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 795% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,530 call options.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

PACB traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $2.56. The stock had a trading volume of 4,104,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,280,861. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1.40 and a 200-day moving average of $1.43. Pacific Biosciences of California has a one year low of $1.07 and a one year high of $2.73. The stock has a market cap of $797.28 million, a PE ratio of -5.99 and a beta of 2.19.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.01). Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 5,752.12% and a negative net margin of 82.49%.The firm had revenue of $39.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.90 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PACB. Weiss Ratings downgraded Pacific Biosciences of California from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered Pacific Biosciences of California from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $1.35 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $1.71.

Insider Transactions at Pacific Biosciences of California

In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider Mark Van Oene sold 26,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.13, for a total value of $30,409.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,705,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,057,613.89. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California during the second quarter valued at about $54,330,000. Hhlr Advisors LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the second quarter worth about $1,544,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,265,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,290,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 177.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 899,550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 575,801 shares during the period.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc (NASDAQ: PACB) develops and commercializes life-science technologies for DNA sequencing. The company is best known for its Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT) sequencing platform, which produces highly accurate, long-read sequencing data used to study genomes, transcriptomes and other biological systems.

PacBio’s product portfolio includes the Revio and Sequel IIe long-read sequencing systems, associated consumables and sample-preparation solutions, and software for data analysis and interpretation.