JPMorgan Chase & Co. Downgrades Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) to Neutral

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) was downgraded by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $7.00 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $9.00 to $2.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $8.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.77.

Pacific Biosciences of California Trading Down 5.8 %

Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock opened at $1.47 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.89 million, a PE ratio of -1.21 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 7.81 and a quick ratio of 7.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $3.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.50. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 52-week low of $1.25 and a 52-week high of $14.55.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $58.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.96 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 152.97% and a negative return on equity of 40.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.35) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -1.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $200,017.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 876,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,601.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $200,017.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 876,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,601.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David W. Meline bought 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.40 per share, for a total transaction of $176,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,359 shares of company stock worth $218,843 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,103,000. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 34,504,273 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $338,487,000 after acquiring an additional 4,681,833 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 149,131 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 40,667 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 452.8% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 330,331 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after acquiring an additional 270,573 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 2,201.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,041,624 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909,439 shares during the period.

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.