Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $1.71 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is cautious: Six analysts give Pacific Biosciences a consensus “Reduce” rating—two sell, three hold and one buy—with an average 12-month price target of $1.71.
• The company missed quarterly expectations, reporting a loss of $0.14 per share versus estimates of $0.13 and revenue of $39.01 million versus the $42.90 million consensus.
• Insider James Gibson II sold 661,815 shares for about $2.06 million under a pre-arranged trading plan, reducing his stake by 37.91%.

Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1.71.

Several equities analysts recently commented on PACB shares. 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $1.35 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PACB opened at $2.44 on Wednesday. Pacific Biosciences of California has a one year low of $1.07 and a one year high of $3.43. The stock has a market cap of $758.43 million, a PE ratio of -5.67 and a beta of 2.21. The business's fifty day moving average price is $1.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.62.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.01). Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 82.49% and a negative return on equity of 5,752.12%. The firm had revenue of $39.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.90 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider James Gibson, II sold 661,815 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.11, for a total transaction of $2,058,244.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,083,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,370,767.28. This trade represents a 37.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Mark Van Oene sold 26,911 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.13, for a total value of $30,409.43. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,705,853 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,057,613.89. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the third quarter worth $28,000. StoneX Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the third quarter worth $36,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the second quarter valued at $30,000.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc NASDAQ: PACB is a life sciences technology company that develops and supplies DNA sequencing systems, consumables and related software. The company is best known for its single-molecule, real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology, which produces highly accurate long-read data used to analyze complex genomes, structural variation, genetic disease and other biological information.

PacBio's product portfolio includes the Revio long-read sequencing system, the Sequel II and Sequel IIe platforms, sequencing consumables and the associated data-analysis software.

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