Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective 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. One research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $7.77.

Pacific Biosciences of California Trading Up 6.2 %

Shares of PACB opened at $1.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.15 and a 200-day moving average of $6.61. 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 has a 52 week low of $1.25 and a 52 week high of $14.55.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $58.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.96 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 40.23% and a negative net margin of 152.97%. The business’s revenue was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.35) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -1.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pacific Biosciences of California

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

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 34,504,273 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $338,487,000 after acquiring an additional 4,681,833 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,789,552 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $262,806,000 after acquiring an additional 3,514,792 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,822,903 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $276,945,000 after acquiring an additional 621,003 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,781,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $116,315,000 after acquiring an additional 675,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 68.5% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,284,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,456,000 after acquiring an additional 4,179,997 shares during the last quarter.

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.