Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Sets New 52-Week Low at $3.15

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $3.15 and last traded at $3.16, with a volume of 3951001 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $3.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PACB shares. StockNews.com raised Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $8.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.78.

Pacific Biosciences of California Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.82. The company has a market capitalization of $849.40 million, a PE ratio of -2.62 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 7.21 and a current ratio of 7.81.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $58.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.35) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. will post -1.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 876,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,601.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director David W. Meline purchased 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.40 per share, for a total transaction of $176,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 876,611 shares in the company, valued at $5,224,601.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,359 shares of company stock worth $218,843 in the last ninety days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 34,504,273 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $338,487,000 after acquiring an additional 4,681,833 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,789,552 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $262,806,000 after buying an additional 3,514,792 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,822,903 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $276,945,000 after buying an additional 621,003 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,781,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $116,315,000 after buying an additional 675,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 68.5% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,284,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,456,000 after buying an additional 4,179,997 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.