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

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by analysts at Piper Sandler in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $2.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $2.50. Piper Sandler’s target price indicates a potential upside of 29.87% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.75 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $2.50 price target on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pacific Biosciences of California has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.79.

Pacific Biosciences of California Trading Down 6.1 %

NASDAQ:PACB opened at $1.54 on Thursday. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 1 year low of $1.16 and a 1 year high of $6.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 8.64 and a current ratio of 9.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $421.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.94 and a beta of 1.92.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.20). Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 200.40% and a negative return on equity of 42.89%. The firm had revenue of $39.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.27) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 15,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 32,409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 7,629 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Pacific Biosciences of California by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 86,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 8,106 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 85.7% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 21,968 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 10,138 shares during the period. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 50,735 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 11,566 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.