Oene Mark Van Sells 26,911 Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Stock

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) insider Oene Mark Van sold 26,911 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.13, for a total transaction of $30,409.43. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,705,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,057,613.89. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Pacific Biosciences of California Trading Up 11.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:PACB opened at $1.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.75 million, a PE ratio of -2.95 and a beta of 2.31. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1.07 and a 1 year high of $2.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.47.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.90 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 82.49% and a negative return on equity of 5,752.12%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. will post -0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,330,000. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 37,264,228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,684,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340,125 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 500.9% in the third 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 period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the fourth quarter worth $7,201,000. Finally, Casdin Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 483.6% in the fourth quarter. Casdin Capital LLC now owns 4,223,767 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,898,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500,000 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PACB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.00 to $1.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pacific Biosciences of California presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $1.83.

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.