Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) Short Interest Down 13.8% in March

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 53,410,000 shares, a decrease of 13.8% from the February 28th total of 61,980,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days. Currently, 20.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PACB shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $2.50 price target on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $6.00 to $2.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.75 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $2.00 target price (down from $2.50) on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pacific Biosciences of California presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.46.

Insider Activity at Pacific Biosciences of California

In other news, insider Michele Farmer sold 24,349 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.88, for a total value of $45,776.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 187,592 shares in the company, valued at $352,672.96. This represents a 11.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Oene Mark Van sold 34,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.03, for a total transaction of $69,842.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,597,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,242,831.62. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 15,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Atom Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California during the fourth quarter worth $43,000.

Pacific Biosciences of California Price Performance

Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $1.23. 4,341,362 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,119,323. The company has a market capitalization of $364.87 million, a P/E ratio of -0.75 and a beta of 1.86. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 1 year low of $1.08 and a 1 year high of $3.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.75. The company has a quick ratio of 8.64, a current ratio of 9.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.20). Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 200.40% and a negative return on equity of 42.89%. The firm had revenue of $39.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.27) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.