Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) Given “Overweight” Rating at Cantor Fitzgerald

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $3.50 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 135.69% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on PACB. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Pacific Biosciences of California in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $4.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $9.00 to $2.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.00 to $2.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Pacific Biosciences of California from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.75.

Pacific Biosciences of California Price Performance

Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock traded down $0.05 on Thursday, hitting $1.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,928,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,885,281. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 8.36 and a current ratio of 9.28. Pacific Biosciences of California has a 1 year low of $1.16 and a 1 year high of $12.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.11. The company has a market capitalization of $404.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.30 and a beta of 2.05.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.04. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 40.26% and a negative net margin of 148.13%. The company had revenue of $36.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.52 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PACB. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 955.5% in the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 10,507,287 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $39,402,000 after acquiring an additional 9,511,787 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,789,552 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $262,806,000 after buying an additional 3,514,792 shares during the period. Decheng Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the fourth quarter worth $28,845,000. Jackson Square Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Square Partners LLC now owns 9,704,766 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $95,204,000 after buying an additional 2,770,901 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the fourth quarter worth $13,486,000.

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.