Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) was upgraded by StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on PACB. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $2.50 target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.75 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $2.00 price target (down from $2.50) on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Pacific Biosciences of California from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.79.

Pacific Biosciences of California Price Performance

NASDAQ PACB opened at $1.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $446.39 million, a PE ratio of -0.99 and a beta of 1.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 8.64 and a current ratio of 9.74. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 52-week low of $1.16 and a 52-week high of $6.09.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.20). The business had revenue of $39.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.20 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 42.89% and a negative net margin of 200.40%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.27) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 34,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.03, for a total value of $69,842.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,597,454 shares in the company, valued at $3,242,831.62. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michele Farmer sold 24,349 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.88, for a total transaction of $45,776.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 187,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $352,672.96. This represents a 11.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Softbank Group CORP. acquired a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California during the fourth quarter valued at $37,426,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 66.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 17,065,331 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,230,000 after buying an additional 6,840,953 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,962,000. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 36,044,362 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $65,961,000 after buying an additional 2,637,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC grew its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 2,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,000 shares during the period.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

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.