Gagnon Securities LLC Acquires 51,494 Shares of Pacira BioSciences, Inc. $PCRX

Key Points

• Gagnon Securities LLC boosted its Pacira BioSciences stake by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 51,494 more shares and bringing its total to 501,211 shares worth about $12.97 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with several other funds also increasing their positions; the article says 99.73% of Pacira BioSciences stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Pacira reported quarterly revenue of $177.38 million, above estimates, but EPS of $0.60 narrowly missed consensus. Analysts currently rate the stock Hold on average, with a price target of $29.40.

Gagnon Securities LLC increased its holdings in Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCRX - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 501,211 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 51,494 shares during the quarter. Pacira BioSciences makes up approximately 2.6% of Gagnon Securities LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Gagnon Securities LLC owned about 1.17% of Pacira BioSciences worth $12,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Doma Perpetual Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 49.7% in the third quarter. Doma Perpetual Capital Management LLC now owns 2,701,324 shares of the company's stock worth $69,613,000 after purchasing an additional 897,255 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 750,027 shares of the company's stock worth $19,411,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 87.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 435,143 shares of the company's stock worth $11,262,000 after purchasing an additional 202,773 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Pacira BioSciences by 171.4% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 138,105 shares of the company's stock worth $3,574,000 after buying an additional 87,210 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Pacira BioSciences in the fourth quarter worth about $7,976,000. 99.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pacira BioSciences Price Performance

PCRX stock opened at $22.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.27. Pacira BioSciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.80 and a 52-week high of $27.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $904.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 191.60 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 3.35 and a current ratio of 4.73.

Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Pacira BioSciences had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 0.70%.The firm had revenue of $177.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $171.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Pacira BioSciences's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Pacira BioSciences, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PCRX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Pacira BioSciences from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pacira BioSciences from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Pacira BioSciences from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Pacira BioSciences from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Pacira BioSciences from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Lauren Riker sold 6,115 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.50, for a total transaction of $143,702.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 62,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,463,674. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jonathan Slonin sold 3,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.82, for a total transaction of $74,416.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,103,464.80. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 34,376 shares of company stock valued at $846,312 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.40% 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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