Pacific Biosciences of California Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PACB)

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 3,953 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 119% compared to the typical volume of 1,804 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PACB shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.25 to $1.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1.90.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $1.95. 8,964,039 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,315,844. 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 capitalization of $584.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.84 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.51, a current ratio of 6.92 and a quick ratio of 6.02.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 336.40% and a negative return on equity of 66.75%. The business had revenue of $3.34 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the first quarter valued at $319,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 100.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 524,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 263,067 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 3.8% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 465,258 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 16,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 2.4% in the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 21,855,180 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,789,000 after acquiring an additional 508,700 shares during the period.

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.