Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Purchases Shares of 494,790 Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 494,790 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,854,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PACB. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the third quarter worth $59,000. Private Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the fourth quarter valued at about $98,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the third quarter valued at about $105,000. EMC Capital Management boosted its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 191.6% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 15,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 10,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Pacific Biosciences of California in the third quarter valued at about $132,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PACB shares. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Pacific Biosciences of California from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on 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. UBS Group cut their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pacific Biosciences of California has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.77.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Up 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PACB traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $1.83. 14,517,068 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,654,614. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. has a 52 week low of $1.25 and a 52 week high of $14.55. The company has a current ratio of 7.81, a quick ratio of 7.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $498.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.51 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.14.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.02. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 40.23% and a negative net margin of 152.97%. The business had revenue of $58.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.35) EPS. Pacific Biosciences of California’s revenue for the quarter was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pacific Biosciences of California

In other news, Director David W. Meline bought 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.40 per share, for a total transaction of $176,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,000. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total value of $200,017.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 876,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,601.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David W. Meline bought 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.40 per share, for a total transaction of $176,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,359 shares of company stock worth $218,843. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

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.