Bank of America Corp DE Makes New Investment in Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. $PACB

Key Points

• Bank of America initiated a position in Pacific Biosciences during the second quarter, purchasing 1.35 million shares valued at approximately $2.27 million, or about 0.43% of PACB.
• PACB shares were trading at $2.37, up 29.5%, despite the company reporting a quarterly loss of $0.14 per share and revenue below analyst expectations. Analysts expect a full-year loss of $0.52 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: PACB has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a $1.71 price target, while recent coverage included downgrades to “Sell” and a “Neutral” rating from UBS.

Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,348,131 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,265,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.43% of Pacific Biosciences of California as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hhlr Advisors LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,544,000. Man Group plc purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the second quarter worth about $1,004,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the second quarter worth about $463,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California during the second quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000.

Pacific Biosciences of California Trading Up 29.5%

NASDAQ:PACB opened at $2.37 on Thursday. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1.07 and a twelve month high of $2.73. The company has a market cap of $736.67 million, a PE ratio of -5.51 and a beta of 2.31. The company's 50 day moving average is $1.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.42.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $39.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. will post -0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider Mark Van Oene sold 26,911 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,057,613.89. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PACB. Weiss Ratings downgraded Pacific Biosciences of California from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pacific Biosciences of California from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Pacific Biosciences of California in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $1.35 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pacific Biosciences of California currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $1.71.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc NASDAQ: PACB develops and commercializes life-science technologies for DNA sequencing. The company is best known for its Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT) sequencing platform, which produces highly accurate, long-read sequencing data used to study genomes, transcriptomes and other biological systems.

PacBio's product portfolio includes the Revio and Sequel IIe long-read sequencing systems, associated consumables and sample-preparation solutions, and software for data analysis and interpretation.

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