Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Stock Rating Lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) was downgraded by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $2.50 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $7.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 78.57% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on PACB. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.00 to $2.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $8.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pacific Biosciences of California has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.55.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

Shares of PACB stock opened at $1.40 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.69. Pacific Biosciences of California has a fifty-two week low of $1.25 and a fifty-two week high of $14.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $375.13 million, a P/E ratio of -1.16 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a quick ratio of 7.21, a current ratio of 7.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.02. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 40.23% and a negative net margin of 152.97%. The business had revenue of $58.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.35) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $200,017.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 876,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,601.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $200,017.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 876,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,601.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David W. Meline purchased 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.40 per share, with a total value of $176,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $176,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,359 shares of company stock valued at $218,843. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PACB. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 217.2% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,163 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 4,220 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. KBC Group NV bought a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000.

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.