Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Pacific Biosciences from a "strong-buy" to a "hold", and other firms (including Barclays) have cut targets, leaving the stock with an average analyst rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $1.67.
• The company reported EPS of -$0.12 (beating the -$0.19 estimate) on $44.65M revenue, but remains deeply unprofitable with a negative ROE (~326%) and analysts forecast about -0.54 EPS for the fiscal year.
• Insiders sold 729,711 shares (roughly $1.16M) in the last quarter and now own just 2.4% of the stock, a notable insider-selling signal amid the negative analyst sentiment.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

PACB has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.50 to $1.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $1.67.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

Pacific Biosciences of California stock opened at $1.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 120.65, a current ratio of 5.15 and a quick ratio of 4.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.83. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 52-week low of $0.85 and a 52-week high of $2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $522.46 million, a P/E ratio of -0.94 and a beta of 2.33.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.07. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 326.43% and a negative net margin of 341.47%.The firm had revenue of $44.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.60 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Pacific Biosciences of California

In other news, insider Christian O. Henry sold 140,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.63, for a total transaction of $229,624.62. Following the sale, the insider owned 2,673,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,357,805. This represents a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michele Farmer sold 35,215 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total value of $55,639.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 234,044 shares in the company, valued at $369,789.52. The trade was a 13.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 729,711 shares of company stock worth $1,161,951. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the third quarter valued at about $524,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 97.9% in the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 808,700 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd boosted its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 63.3% in the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 1,288,692 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 499,421 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 2.1% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 415,679 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 8,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the third quarter valued at about $52,000.

About Pacific Biosciences of California

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc develops, manufactures and sells high-performance DNA sequencing systems for genetic and genomic analysis. The company's proprietary single-molecule, real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology is designed to enable long-read sequencing, offering high accuracy for applications such as de novo genome assembly, transcriptome characterization and structural variation analysis. Pacific Biosciences markets a suite of instruments, including the Sequel and Sequel IIe systems, alongside reagents, consumables and data analysis software to support a range of life science research.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Pacific Biosciences has expanded its global reach by serving academic institutions, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and government research centers across North America, Europe and Asia.

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