JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) to Neutral

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

PACB has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.00 to $2.50 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $8.00 to $3.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Pacific Biosciences of California from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $7.00 to $2.50 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Pacific Biosciences of California to a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $7.77.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Down 7.5 %

PACB stock opened at $1.36 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 7.81 and a quick ratio of 7.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $364.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.12 and a beta of 1.83. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $3.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.46. Pacific Biosciences of California has a fifty-two week low of $1.25 and a fifty-two week high of $14.55.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $58.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.96 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 40.23% and a negative net margin of 152.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.35) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David W. Meline purchased 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.40 per share, with a total value of $176,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,000. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director David W. Meline purchased 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.40 per share, with a total value of $176,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,000. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total value of $200,017.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 876,611 shares in the company, valued at $5,224,601.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 37,359 shares of company stock valued at $218,843. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Interchange Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 18,709 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,991 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 11.4% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 19,740 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027 shares in the last quarter. AtonRa Partners increased its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 4.0% in the third quarter. AtonRa Partners now owns 65,082 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 582,974 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,719,000 after purchasing an additional 2,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 18.4% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,227 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 3,149 shares in the last quarter.

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.