Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB)

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 31,944 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 477% compared to the average daily volume of 5,533 call options.

Pacific Biosciences of California Trading Up 1.1 %

PACB stock opened at $1.87 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.79. The company has a quick ratio of 8.64, a current ratio of 9.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 52-week low of $1.16 and a 52-week high of $6.09. The firm has a market cap of $512.12 million, a P/E ratio of -1.28 and a beta of 1.92.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20). The business had revenue of $39.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.20 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 227.69% and a negative return on equity of 42.71%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.27) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PACB. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $2.50 price target on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group lowered 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 report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $2.00 to $2.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 34,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.03, for a total transaction of $69,842.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,597,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,242,831.62. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 15,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 21,968 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 10,138 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000.

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.