Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday. 10,411,181 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 29% from the average daily volume of 8,047,618 shares. The stock last traded at $2.9650 and had previously closed at $2.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.60. The firm has a market cap of $946.48 million, a PE ratio of -7.10 and a beta of 2.19.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.01). Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 82.49% and a negative return on equity of 5,752.12%. The business had revenue of $39.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.90 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. will post -0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pacific Biosciences of California

In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider James Gibson, II sold 661,815 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.11, for a total transaction of $2,058,244.65. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,083,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,370,767.28. The trade was a 37.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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 stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.13, for a total transaction of $30,409.43. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,330,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the second quarter valued at $2,265,000. Hhlr Advisors LTD. purchased a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,544,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,290,000. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,004,000.

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.