Pacific Biosciences of California Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:PACB)

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 3,015 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 91% compared to the average volume of 1,581 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Essential Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 891.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 22,776 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20,478 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 4th quarter worth $34,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on PACB shares. Zacks Research cut Pacific Biosciences of California from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.00 to $1.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $1.83.

Pacific Biosciences of California Price Performance

NASDAQ PACB traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $1.69. 1,402,163 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,631,138. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.64. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 1 year low of $1.09 and a 1 year high of $2.73. The company has a market cap of $523.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.92 and a beta of 2.29.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $37.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.94 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 571.06% and a negative net margin of 80.35%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Pacific Biosciences of California

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc develops, manufactures and sells high-performance DNA sequencing systems for genetic and genomic analysis. The company’s proprietary single-molecule, real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology is designed to enable long-read sequencing, offering high accuracy for applications such as de novo genome assembly, transcriptome characterization and structural variation analysis. Pacific Biosciences markets a suite of instruments, including the Sequel and Sequel IIe systems, alongside reagents, consumables and data analysis software to support a range of life science research.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Pacific Biosciences has expanded its global reach by serving academic institutions, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and government research centers across North America, Europe and Asia.