Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Receives “Neutral” Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reissued their neutral rating on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $2.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $2.50.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank reduced their price target 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 reduced their price target on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.75 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $2.50 price target on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.79.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Down 7.3 %

Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock opened at $1.64 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1.77 and a 200-day moving average of $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 1-year low of $1.16 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.20). The company had revenue of $39.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm earned ($0.27) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.72 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

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

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.