Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Given “Overweight” Rating at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $1.80 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on PACB. StockNews.com raised Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.75 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $2.00 target price (down from $2.50) on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $3.00 price target on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $6.00 to $2.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.34.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Down 3.6%

NASDAQ PACB opened at $1.06 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 8.64, a current ratio of 9.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 52 week low of $1.04 and a 52 week high of $2.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.61. The firm has a market cap of $318.09 million, a PE ratio of -0.65 and a beta of 2.19.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $37.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.90 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 200.40% and a negative return on equity of 42.89%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michele Farmer sold 24,349 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.88, for a total value of $45,776.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 187,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $352,672.96. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PACB. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 1st quarter valued at $319,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 100.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 524,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $619,000 after buying an additional 263,067 shares during the period. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC increased its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 3,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,540,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Pacific Biosciences of California by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,263,464 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,191,000 after buying an additional 1,036,606 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.