Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Receives Underweight Rating from Barclays

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB)‘s stock had its “underweight” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Barclays in a research note issued to investors on Friday. They presently have a $1.50 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 1.32% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PACB. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.50 to $2.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Stephens increased their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.80 to $2.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Pacific Biosciences of California from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pacific Biosciences of California currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.10.

Pacific Biosciences of California Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of PACB stock opened at $1.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $459.04 million, a P/E ratio of -0.83 and a beta of 2.31. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 12-month low of $0.85 and a 12-month high of $2.73. The company has a quick ratio of 4.47, a current ratio of 5.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 120.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.80.

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

Insider Transactions at Pacific Biosciences of California

In other news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 55,107 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.63, for a total transaction of $89,824.41. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,742,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,840,499.94. This represents a 3.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christian O. Henry sold 140,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.63, for a total value of $229,624.62. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,673,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,357,805. This trade represents a 5.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 729,711 shares of company stock worth $1,161,951 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PACB. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,433,011 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after acquiring an additional 326,238 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 47.9% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 20,663 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 6,695 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 5,001.3% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 628,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 615,907 shares during the period. Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California in the fourth quarter worth $40,000.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

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.