Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Shares Down 6.6% – Time to Sell?

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB)’s stock price fell 6.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $2.25 and last traded at $2.2050. 660,450 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 8,194,578 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PACB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.50 to $2.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.50 to $2.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.80 to $2.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.08.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Down 3.6%

The stock has a market cap of $686.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.03 and a beta of 2.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $2.03 and its 200-day moving average is $1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.88, a quick ratio of 5.40 and a current ratio of 6.24.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $38.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.25 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 325.02% and a negative return on equity of 101.49%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. will post -0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PACB. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 500.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,916,795 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,293,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,555 shares in the last quarter. Amiral Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the second quarter worth about $3,208,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Pacific Biosciences of California by 109.6% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,472,690 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,885,000 after acquiring an additional 769,987 shares during the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Pacific Biosciences of California by 89.9% during the second quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 1,294,186 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 612,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 63.3% in the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 1,288,692 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 499,421 shares in the last quarter.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

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.