Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Stock Rating Lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on PACB. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Pacific Biosciences of California from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $7.00 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays reduced their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $8.00 to $3.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $9.00 to $2.50 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $7.77.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PACB opened at $1.36 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $364.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.12 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 has a 1-year low of $1.25 and a 1-year high of $14.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $3.86 and its 200 day moving average is $6.46.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $58.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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%. Pacific Biosciences of California’s revenue for the quarter was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.35) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Pacific Biosciences of California

In related news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 876,611 shares in the company, valued at $5,224,601.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director David W. Meline purchased 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.40 per share, for a total transaction of $176,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total value of $200,017.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 876,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,601.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,359 shares of company stock worth $218,843. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California during the third quarter valued at $59,000. Private Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California during the fourth quarter valued at $98,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the third quarter worth $105,000. EMC Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 191.6% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 15,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 10,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the third quarter worth $132,000.

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.