Analysts Set Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) PT at $2.10

Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $2.1250.

A number of research analysts have commented on PACB shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $1.50 target price (down from $2.00) on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a report on Friday, March 6th.

Pacific Biosciences of California Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of PACB stock opened at $1.35 on Tuesday. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 52-week low of $0.85 and a 52-week high of $2.73. The stock has a market cap of $407.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.73 and a beta of 2.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 120.65, a quick ratio of 4.47 and a current ratio of 5.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1.77 and a 200-day moving average of $1.80.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $44.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.60 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 341.47% and a negative return on equity of 326.43%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pacific Biosciences of California

In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider Michele Farmer sold 35,215 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total transaction of $55,639.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 234,044 shares in the company, valued at $369,789.52. This represents a 13.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Oene Mark Van sold 55,107 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.63, for a total value of $89,824.41. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,742,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,840,499.94. The trade was a 3.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 729,711 shares of company stock worth $1,161,951 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PACB. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 6.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,718,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,333,000 after buying an additional 401,637 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 245.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 175,690 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 124,893 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 10.1% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,725 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,617 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 73.0% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 35,684 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 15,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 95.5% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 954,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 466,359 shares in the last quarter.

About Pacific Biosciences of California

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc develops, manufactures and sells high-performance DNA sequencing systems for genetic and genomic analysis. The company’s proprietary single-molecule, real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology is designed to enable long-read sequencing, offering high accuracy for applications such as de novo genome assembly, transcriptome characterization and structural variation analysis. Pacific Biosciences markets a suite of instruments, including the Sequel and Sequel IIe systems, alongside reagents, consumables and data analysis software to support a range of life science research.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Pacific Biosciences has expanded its global reach by serving academic institutions, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and government research centers across North America, Europe and Asia.