Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) Now Covered by Leerink Partners

Key Points

• Leerink Partners initiated coverage of Pacira BioSciences with a “market perform” rating and a $28 price target, implying approximately 10.5% upside from the reported share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans neutral: Pacira has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $29.83, with three Buy ratings and five Holds.
• Pacira’s latest quarter exceeded expectations, reporting $0.73 in EPS versus a $0.65 consensus estimate and $192.4 million in revenue, up 6.2% year over year. Shares traded down 2% to $25.34.

Analysts at Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a "market perform" rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners' price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.48% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Pacira BioSciences from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Pacira BioSciences from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Pacira BioSciences from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Pacira BioSciences in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Pacira BioSciences in a report on Monday, August 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pacira BioSciences presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.83.

Pacira BioSciences Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ:PCRX traded down $0.53 on Wednesday, reaching $25.34. 20,864 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 674,221. The company has a current ratio of 5.04, a quick ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Pacira BioSciences has a 1-year low of $18.80 and a 1-year high of $27.66. The company's 50 day moving average is $25.46 and its 200-day moving average is $24.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.47 and a beta of 0.26.

Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. Pacira BioSciences had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 9.68%. The company had revenue of $192.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pacira BioSciences will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pacira BioSciences

In other news, SVP Lauren Riker sold 6,115 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.50, for a total transaction of $143,702.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 62,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,463,674. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jonathan Slonin sold 3,040 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.23, for a total value of $70,619.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 216,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,026,600.32. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pacira BioSciences during the 4th quarter valued at $7,976,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in Pacira BioSciences during the second quarter valued at $2,399,000. Gagnon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Pacira BioSciences by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Gagnon Advisors LLC now owns 260,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,752,000 after buying an additional 47,506 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Pacira BioSciences by 179.8% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 319,800 shares of the company's stock worth $8,276,000 after buying an additional 205,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Pacira BioSciences during the second quarter worth about $2,369,000. Institutional investors own 99.73% of the company's stock.

About Pacira BioSciences

Pacira BioSciences, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing non-opioid, non-addictive pain management and regenerative health solutions. The company's flagship product, EXPAREL, is a bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension designed to provide long-lasting postsurgical analgesia. EXPAREL is used by clinicians across a broad range of surgical procedures to reduce reliance on opioid medications and to help manage acute postoperative pain.

In addition to its marketed offering, Pacira maintains an active pipeline of investigational products aimed at addressing unmet needs in pain management and inflammation control.

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