Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Trading 9.2% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) traded up 9.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $1.63 and last traded at $1.7250. 697,479 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 6,679,110 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.00 to $1.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $1.83.

Pacific Biosciences of California Trading Up 5.4%

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.75. The stock has a market cap of $517.15 million, a P/E ratio of -3.90 and a beta of 2.35.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $37.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.94 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative net margin of 80.35% and a negative return on equity of 571.06%. Research analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its position in Pacific Biosciences of California by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 37,264,228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,684,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340,125 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Pacific Biosciences of California by 500.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,916,795 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,293,000 after acquiring an additional 4,098,555 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the fourth quarter worth $7,201,000. Casdin Capital LLC grew its position in Pacific Biosciences of California by 483.6% in the fourth quarter. Casdin Capital LLC now owns 4,223,767 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,898,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in Pacific Biosciences of California by 111.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,171,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,674,320 shares in the last quarter.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc develops, manufactures and sells high-performance DNA sequencing systems for genetic and genomic analysis. The company’s proprietary single-molecule, real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology is designed to enable long-read sequencing, offering high accuracy for applications such as de novo genome assembly, transcriptome characterization and structural variation analysis. Pacific Biosciences markets a suite of instruments, including the Sequel and Sequel IIe systems, alongside reagents, consumables and data analysis software to support a range of life science research.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Pacific Biosciences has expanded its global reach by serving academic institutions, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and government research centers across North America, Europe and Asia.