Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Shares Down 5%

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB - Get Free Report) was down 5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $4.16 and last traded at $4.18. Approximately 1,555,193 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 8,945,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PACB shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com raised Pacific Biosciences of California to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim started coverage on Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Stephens started coverage on Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pacific Biosciences of California has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $11.90.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.45 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $6.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.93. The company has a quick ratio of 7.21, a current ratio of 7.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $58.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.96 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 40.23% and a negative net margin of 152.97%. Pacific Biosciences of California's quarterly revenue was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.35) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. will post -1.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Pacific Biosciences of California

In related news, insider Christian O. Henry sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,086,095 shares in the company, valued at $10,860,950. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $200,017.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 876,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,224,601.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian O. Henry sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,086,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,860,950. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 88,371 shares of company stock worth $659,806. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 190.5% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,438,572 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $37,299,000 after purchasing an additional 5,533,953 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 34,504,273 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $338,487,000 after purchasing an additional 4,681,833 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 68.5% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,284,090 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $45,456,000 after purchasing an additional 4,179,997 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,789,552 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $262,806,000 after purchasing an additional 3,514,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 214.3% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 4,881,752 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $44,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,328,729 shares in the last quarter.

About Pacific Biosciences of California

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc designs, develops, and manufactures sequencing solution to resolve genetically complex problems. The company provides sequencing systems; consumable products, including single molecule real-time (SMRT) technology; long-red sequencing; and various reagent kits designed for specific workflow, such as preparation kit to convert DNA into SMRTbell double-stranded DNA library formats, including molecular biology reagents, such as ligase, buffers, and exonucleases.

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