Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Given New $2.50 Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) had its target price trimmed by Sanford C. Bernstein from $9.00 to $2.50 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on PACB. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their price objective for the company from $7.00 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Pacific Biosciences of California to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $8.00 to $3.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pacific Biosciences of California has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $7.77.

Pacific Biosciences of California Price Performance

NASDAQ:PACB opened at $1.46 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.65. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 12 month low of $1.25 and a 12 month high of $14.55. The firm has a market cap of $391.21 million, a P/E ratio of -1.21 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a current ratio of 7.81, a quick ratio of 7.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $58.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.35) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Pacific Biosciences of California

In related news, Director David W. Meline acquired 40,000 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.40 per share, for a total transaction of $176,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $176,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $200,017.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 876,611 shares in the company, valued at $5,224,601.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David W. Meline purchased 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.40 per share, with a total value of $176,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, 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 worth $218,843. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,103,000. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 34,504,273 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $338,487,000 after purchasing an additional 4,681,833 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 149,131 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,255,000 after buying an additional 40,667 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 452.8% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 330,331 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 270,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Pacific Biosciences of California by 2,201.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,041,624 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,838,000 after buying an additional 2,909,439 shares during the period.

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.