UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Stock Price

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) had its target price cut by investment analysts at UBS Group from $3.05 to $2.70 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. UBS Group‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 14.41% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.25 to $2.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $3.00 price target (up from $2.00) on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.42.

Pacific Biosciences of California Trading Up 4.4%

Pacific Biosciences of California stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Monday, reaching $2.36. The company had a trading volume of 11,836,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,358,865. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $733.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.62 and a beta of 2.21. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 52 week low of $1.07 and a 52 week high of $3.43.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.02. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 81.31% and a negative return on equity of 5,752.12%. The company had revenue of $40.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 million. On average, analysts predict that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pacific Biosciences of California

In related news, insider James Gibson, II sold 661,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.11, for a total value of $2,058,244.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 company’s 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 directly owned 2,705,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,057,613.89. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Carret Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Pacific Biosciences of California by 1.2% during the third quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 607,140 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,714 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 7,282 shares during the period. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Pacific Biosciences of California in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000.

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.