Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $2.45, but opened at $2.18. Pacific Biosciences of California shares last traded at $2.23, with a volume of 2,339,230 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PACB shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $3.50 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $3.50 price objective on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $4.00 to $2.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.50.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $536.88 million, a P/E ratio of -1.49 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 7.14 and a current ratio of 8.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.74.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.04. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 211.99% and a negative return on equity of 40.98%. The firm had revenue of $36.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.52 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. will post -0.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Pacific Biosciences of California

In other news, insider Jeff Eidel sold 26,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.59, for a total transaction of $42,548.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 869,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,382,870.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jeff Eidel sold 26,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.59, for a total transaction of $42,548.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 869,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,382,870.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Oene Mark Van sold 38,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total transaction of $63,098.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,630,815 shares in the company, valued at $2,707,152.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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 company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 119,936 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 475,246 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 6,200 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 32,409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 7,629 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 235,308 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 9,516 shares in the last quarter.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

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.