Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) Cut to “Hold” at Truist Financial

Truist Financial lowered shares of Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $36.50 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $31.00.

PCRX has been the topic of several other reports. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Pacira BioSciences in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Pacira BioSciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $36.50 in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Pacira BioSciences from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $36.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pacira BioSciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Pacira BioSciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pacira BioSciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.33.

Pacira BioSciences Stock Performance

Shares of Pacira BioSciences stock opened at $36.31 on Friday. Pacira BioSciences has a 1 year low of $18.80 and a 1 year high of $36.46. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.61. The company has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.75 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 5.04, a quick ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $192.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $191.06 million. Pacira BioSciences had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 9.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pacira BioSciences will post 1.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jonathan Slonin sold 3,040 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.23, for a total transaction of $70,619.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 216,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,026,600.32. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Lauren Riker sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total value of $217,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 62,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,262,154.88. The trade was a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pacira BioSciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PCRX. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Pacira BioSciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,532,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Pacira BioSciences during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,089,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Pacira BioSciences during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,076,000. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pacira BioSciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,358,000. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Pacira BioSciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,181,000. Institutional investors own 99.73% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Pacira BioSciences

Here are the key news stories impacting Pacira BioSciences this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Viatris agreed to buy Pacira for $36.50 per share in cash, valuing the equity at approximately $1.65 billion. The transaction gives shareholders a defined exit price and is expected to close by the end of 2026, subject to customary conditions. Viatris acquisition announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Viatris will add Pacira’s marketed non-opioid pain therapies, EXPAREL and ZILRETTA, along with a clinical-stage gene therapy candidate. Viatris expects the deal to expand its pain portfolio and be immediately accretive to its financial guidance metrics.
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC said a superior competing bid is unlikely, reducing the prospect of a higher offer but also lowering takeover uncertainty. The stock’s upside is therefore largely capped near the $36.50 consideration unless another bidder emerges. RBC superior bid analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst actions largely reflect the announced deal: JPMorgan upgraded PCRX to neutral, while RBC and Truist raised targets to $36.50 and maintained sector perform or hold ratings. HC Wainwright maintained neutral with a $36.50 target, and Jefferies kept hold with a $36.00 target.
• Negative Sentiment: Several shareholder-rights law firms are investigating whether Pacira’s board obtained fair value and conducted an adequate sale process. These investigations could create legal or procedural distractions, although no wrongdoing has been established. Shareholder investigation

Pacira BioSciences Company Profile

Pacira BioSciences, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing non-opioid pain-management products. The company’s portfolio is designed to help manage acute and chronic pain while reducing reliance on traditional opioid therapies.

Its principal product is EXPAREL, an extended-release formulation of bupivacaine used to provide postsurgical pain relief. Pacira also markets ZILRETTA, an extended-release corticosteroid injection for osteoarthritis-related knee pain, and the iovera° system, a handheld cryoanalgesia device intended to temporarily block peripheral nerves and provide targeted pain relief.

Originally known as Pacira Pharmaceuticals, the company adopted the name Pacira BioSciences in 2018 to reflect its broader focus on innovative therapies and technologies.