Impax Asset Management Group plc Buys 150,000 Shares of Pacira BioSciences, Inc. $PCRX

Key Points

• Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in Pacira BioSciences by 25.0%, buying 150,000 shares to hold 750,027 shares (about 1.74% of the company) valued at roughly $19.41 million at quarter-end.
• Corporate insiders sold a total of 32,261 shares in the last quarter (about $785,850), leaving insiders with approximately 6.40% ownership of the company.
• Street sentiment is a consensus Hold with a target of $30.25; Pacira also reported an earnings miss (EPS $0.57 vs. $0.85 estimate) and its stock recently traded near $24.51 (market cap ≈ $992M).

Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCRX - Free Report) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 750,027 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned 1.74% of Pacira BioSciences worth $19,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 175.4% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,132 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company's stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 5.1% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 17,402 shares of the company's stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,317 shares of the company's stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,242 shares of the company's stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares during the period. 99.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan Slonin sold 3,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.82, for a total transaction of $74,416.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 223,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,103,464.80. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Lauren Riker sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.81, for a total value of $83,240.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 52,313 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,633.53. This trade represents a 7.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,261 shares of company stock valued at $785,850. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PCRX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Pacira BioSciences from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Zacks Research upgraded Pacira BioSciences from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Pacira BioSciences in a report on Friday, January 9th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Pacira BioSciences in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Pacira BioSciences from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pacira BioSciences currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.25.

Pacira BioSciences Stock Down 3.4%

PCRX stock opened at $24.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a current ratio of 4.54. The company has a market capitalization of $992.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 163.40 and a beta of 0.19. Pacira BioSciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.80 and a fifty-two week high of $27.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.09 and a 200-day moving average of $23.08.

Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $196.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.93 million. Pacira BioSciences had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 0.97%.The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pacira BioSciences, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

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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