Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Shares Up 7.3% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• PACB shares rose 7.3% to $2.265 in mid-day trading, though volume was 68% below the average session level.
• Analysts remain cautious: the stock has a consensus “Reduce” rating and a $1.71 price target, while recent quarterly results missed expectations on both EPS and revenue.
• The company remains unprofitable, with a negative net margin of 82.49%; meanwhile, major institutions including BlackRock and Bank of America established new positions.

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 7.3% on Monday. The stock traded as high as $2.24 and last traded at $2.2650. 2,589,406 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 7,967,515 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on PACB shares. UBS Group started coverage on Pacific Biosciences of California in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $1.35 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $1.71.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

The company's fifty day moving average price is $1.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.53. The stock has a market cap of $700.92 million, a P/E ratio of -5.24 and a beta of 2.19.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $39.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $42.90 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 5,752.12% and a negative net margin of 82.49%. Analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. will post -0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider James R. Gibson II sold 661,815 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.11, for a total value of $2,058,244.65. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,083,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,370,767.28. This represents a 37.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Mark Van Oene sold 26,911 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.13, for a total value of $30,409.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,705,853 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,057,613.89. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 2nd quarter valued at $54,330,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California during the second quarter worth $2,265,000. Hhlr Advisors LTD. purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,544,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,290,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 177.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 899,550 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,187,000 after buying an additional 575,801 shares in the last quarter.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc NASDAQ: PACB is a life sciences technology company that develops and supplies DNA sequencing systems, consumables and related software. The company is best known for its single-molecule, real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology, which produces highly accurate long-read data used to analyze complex genomes, structural variation, genetic disease and other biological information.

PacBio's product portfolio includes the Revio long-read sequencing system, the Sequel II and Sequel IIe platforms, sequencing consumables and the associated data-analysis software.

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