Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) have received an average rating of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1.7125.

Several brokerages recently commented on PACB. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1.35 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Pacific Biosciences of California from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PACB opened at $1.35 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $419.62 million, a PE ratio of -3.14 and a beta of 2.31. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 52-week low of $1.07 and a 52-week high of $2.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.42.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.01). Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 5,752.12% and a negative net margin of 82.49%.The business had revenue of $39.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.90 million. On average, analysts forecast that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider Mark Van Oene sold 26,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.13, for a total value of $30,409.43. Following the sale, the insider owned 2,705,853 shares in the company, valued at $3,057,613.89. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the second quarter worth about $53,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California during the 2nd quarter valued at about $70,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 280,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 31,829 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,265,000.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc (NASDAQ: PACB) develops and commercializes life-science technologies for DNA sequencing. The company is best known for its Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT) sequencing platform, which produces highly accurate, long-read sequencing data used to study genomes, transcriptomes and other biological systems.

PacBio’s product portfolio includes the Revio and Sequel IIe long-read sequencing systems, associated consumables and sample-preparation solutions, and software for data analysis and interpretation.