Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Shares Down 4.7% – Should You Sell?

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB)’s share price fell 4.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $2.07 and last traded at $2.1350. Approximately 6,137,362 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 8,357,454 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PACB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 7th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $3.00 price objective (up from $2.00) on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.25 to $2.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $3.05 to $2.70 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pacific Biosciences of California presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $2.57.

Pacific Biosciences of California Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $586.74 million, a P/E ratio of -4.49 and a beta of 2.21.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider James R. Gibson II sold 661,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.11, for a total value of $2,058,244.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,083,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,370,767.28. This represents a 37.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Mark Van Oene sold 26,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.13, for a total value of $30,409.43. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,705,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,057,613.89. This represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PACB. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the second quarter valued at about $54,330,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the second quarter worth approximately $2,265,000. Hhlr Advisors LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the second quarter worth approximately $1,544,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 177.9% in the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,290,000.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

Pacific Biosciences of California, or PacBio, develops and sells DNA sequencing systems and related products for life science research and clinical applications. The company is known for its single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology, which produces long reads that can help researchers study complex regions of the genome and identify genetic variations. Its portfolio includes HiFi sequencing systems such as the Revio and Vega platforms, along with instruments, consumables, software and services used to prepare, sequence and analyze genetic samples.