Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCRX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $36.48 and last traded at $36.40, with a volume of 2,331,838 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PCRX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Pacira BioSciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Pacira BioSciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Pacira BioSciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $36.50 in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Pacira BioSciences in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Pacira BioSciences from $25.00 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.33.

Pacira BioSciences Stock Up 0.2%

The company has a current ratio of 5.04, a quick ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 104.00 and a beta of 0.25.

Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. Pacira BioSciences had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 1.96%. The firm had revenue of $192.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pacira BioSciences, Inc. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pacira BioSciences news, insider Jonathan Slonin sold 3,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.23, for a total value of $70,619.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 216,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,026,600.32. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Lauren Riker sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total transaction of $217,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 62,284 shares in the company, valued at $2,262,154.88. The trade was a 8.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pacira BioSciences

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PCRX. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in Pacira BioSciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,399,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pacira BioSciences during the second quarter valued at about $2,369,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Pacira BioSciences in the second quarter worth about $7,532,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Pacira BioSciences by 31.0% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 203,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,163,000 after buying an additional 48,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Pacira BioSciences by 5.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,060,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,572,000 after buying an additional 110,584 shares in the last quarter. 99.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Pacira BioSciences

Pacira BioSciences, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing non-opioid pain-management products. The company’s portfolio is designed to help manage acute and chronic pain while reducing reliance on traditional opioid therapies.

Its principal product is EXPAREL, an extended-release formulation of bupivacaine used to provide postsurgical pain relief. Pacira also markets ZILRETTA, an extended-release corticosteroid injection for osteoarthritis-related knee pain, and the iovera° system, a handheld cryoanalgesia device intended to temporarily block peripheral nerves and provide targeted pain relief.

Originally known as Pacira Pharmaceuticals, the company adopted the name Pacira BioSciences in 2018 to reflect its broader focus on innovative therapies and technologies.