Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB)

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 10,843 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 193% compared to the average daily volume of 3,699 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PACB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group cut Pacific Biosciences of California from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $2.00 to $2.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pacific Biosciences of California currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.95.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 564,507 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 45,957 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $302,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 143.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 595,150 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,011,000 after buying an additional 350,196 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 3.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,327,906 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,759,000 after acquiring an additional 225,034 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the third quarter worth $97,000.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

Shares of PACB stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $1.94. The company had a trading volume of 3,415,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,202,076. The company has a market capitalization of $531.49 million, a PE ratio of -1.33 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 9.74 and a quick ratio of 8.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.77. Pacific Biosciences of California has a one year low of $1.16 and a one year high of $9.51.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc designs, develops, and manufactures sequencing solution to resolve genetically complex problems. The company provides sequencing systems; consumable products, including single molecule real-time (SMRT) technology; long-red sequencing; and various reagent kits designed for specific workflow, such as preparation kit to convert DNA into SMRTbell double-stranded DNA library formats, including molecular biology reagents, such as ligase, buffers, and exonucleases.