Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Pacific Biosciences of California has been upgraded from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a potential change in investor sentiment towards the stock.
• Despite the upgrade, equities analysts have lowered their target prices, with Piper Sandler setting a new target of $1.25 and Barclays at $1.50.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a narrower loss than expected, with revenues of $39.77 million surpassing analyst estimates.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PACB. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $2.00 to $1.25 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $1.80 price target on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $2.00 to $1.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1.90.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Up 8.1%

Shares of PACB stock traded up $0.10 on Friday, hitting $1.31. The stock had a trading volume of 6,646,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,826,497. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.51, a current ratio of 6.92 and a quick ratio of 6.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1.36 and a 200 day moving average of $1.31. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 12-month low of $0.85 and a 12-month high of $2.72. The stock has a market cap of $392.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.57 and a beta of 2.17.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 66.75% and a negative net margin of 336.40%. The firm had revenue of $39.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.35 million. As a group, analysts expect that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.72 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Pacific Biosciences of California by 178.9% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,660,059 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,038,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,909 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,962,000. Softbank Group CORP. purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,426,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000.

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.