Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $11.26 Million Position in Pacira BioSciences, Inc. $PCRX

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCRX) by 87.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 435,143 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 202,773 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Pacira BioSciences were worth $11,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Pacira BioSciences by 175.4% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Pacira BioSciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Pacira BioSciences in the first quarter worth approximately $75,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Pacira BioSciences in the third quarter worth approximately $80,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.73% of the company’s stock.

Pacira BioSciences Stock Down 1.8%

NASDAQ PCRX opened at $22.88 on Friday. Pacira BioSciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.80 and a twelve month high of $27.64. The stock has a market cap of $926.41 million, a PE ratio of 152.53 and a beta of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a current ratio of 4.54.

Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $196.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.93 million. Pacira BioSciences had a net margin of 0.97% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Pacira BioSciences, Inc. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pacira BioSciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on Pacira BioSciences from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research cut Pacira BioSciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Pacira BioSciences in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Pacira BioSciences in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Lauren Riker sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.81, for a total value of $83,240.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 52,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,088,633.53. The trade was a 7.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Slonin sold 3,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.82, for a total transaction of $74,416.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 223,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,103,464.80. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 8,677 shares of company stock worth $191,980 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

About Pacira BioSciences

Pacira BioSciences, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing non-opioid, non-addictive pain management and regenerative health solutions. The company’s flagship product, EXPAREL, is a bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension designed to provide long-lasting postsurgical analgesia. EXPAREL is used by clinicians across a broad range of surgical procedures to reduce reliance on opioid medications and to help manage acute postoperative pain.

In addition to its marketed offering, Pacira maintains an active pipeline of investigational products aimed at addressing unmet needs in pain management and inflammation control.