Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (PACB) – What Are Investment Firms Thinking About This Stock?

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $2.57.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PACB shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.25 to $2.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $3.00 price target (up from $2.00) on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $3.05 to $2.70 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James Gibson, II sold 661,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.11, for a total value of $2,058,244.65. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,083,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,370,767.28. This trade represents a 37.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Mark Van Oene sold 26,911 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.13, for a total transaction of $30,409.43. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,705,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,057,613.89. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Essential Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Pinegrove Venture Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California during the second quarter worth about $34,584.

Pacific Biosciences of California Trading Down 5.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PACB opened at $2.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.96 and a 200 day moving average of $1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $700.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.33 and a beta of 2.21. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 12-month low of $1.07 and a 12-month high of $3.43.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $40.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 5,752.12% and a negative net margin of 81.31%. Sell-side analysts predict that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.51 EPS for the current year.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ: PACB) is a life sciences technology company that develops and supplies DNA sequencing systems, consumables and related software. The company is best known for its single-molecule, real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology, which produces highly accurate long-read data used to analyze complex genomes, structural variation, genetic disease and other biological information. PacBio’s product portfolio includes the Revio long-read sequencing system, the Sequel II and Sequel IIe platforms, sequencing consumables and the associated data-analysis software.