Wall Street Zen Downgrades Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) to Sell

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

PACB has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.00 to $1.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $1.83.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PACB opened at $1.19 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.55. The company has a market cap of $368.06 million, a P/E ratio of -2.76 and a beta of 2.31. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 12-month low of $1.09 and a 12-month high of $2.73.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $39.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.90 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 1,043.14% and a negative net margin of 82.49%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California in the second quarter valued at about $54,330,000. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 37,264,228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,684,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340,125 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 500.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,916,795 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,293,000 after acquiring an additional 4,098,555 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,201,000. Finally, Casdin Capital LLC lifted its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 483.6% during the fourth quarter. Casdin Capital LLC now owns 4,223,767 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,898,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500,000 shares during 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.