Analysts Set Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) Target Price at $7.77

Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.77.

A number of research firms have weighed in on PACB. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $9.00 to $2.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Pacific Biosciences of California from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.00 to $2.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David W. Meline purchased 40,000 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought 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 directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $176,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,224,601.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David W. Meline bought 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.40 per share, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,359 shares of company stock valued at $218,843 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PACB. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 34,504,273 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $338,487,000 after purchasing an additional 4,681,833 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,789,552 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $262,806,000 after purchasing an additional 3,514,792 shares in the last quarter. Decheng Capital LLC bought a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,845,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 2,201.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,041,624 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909,439 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Square Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Square Partners LLC now owns 9,704,766 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $95,204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,770,901 shares during the period.

Pacific Biosciences of California Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PACB opened at $1.47 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 7.81, a quick ratio of 7.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.36. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 1-year low of $1.25 and a 1-year high of $14.55. The stock has a market cap of $393.89 million, a PE ratio of -1.21 and a beta of 1.83.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.02. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 40.23% and a negative net margin of 152.97%. The company had revenue of $58.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.35) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Pacific Biosciences of California

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.