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

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

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $9.00 to $2.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $7.00 to $2.50 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pacific Biosciences of California has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.77.

Pacific Biosciences of California Price Performance

PACB opened at $1.47 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 7.21, a current ratio of 7.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 52-week low of $1.25 and a 52-week high of $14.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.50. The company has a market cap of $393.89 million, a P/E ratio of -1.21 and a beta of 1.83.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $58.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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%. Pacific Biosciences of California’s revenue for the quarter was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.35) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $200,017.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 876,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,224,601.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, Director David W. Meline bought 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.40 per share, with a total value of $176,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $176,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $200,017.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 876,611 shares in the company, valued at $5,224,601.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 37,359 shares of company stock valued at $218,843. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Biosciences of California

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PACB. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 3rd quarter worth about $59,000. Private Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 4th quarter worth about $98,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 1st quarter worth about $98,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in the 3rd quarter worth about $105,000. Finally, Carret Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 52.4% in the 1st quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 32,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 11,000 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.