Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX)

Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCRX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 4,984 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 322% compared to the average daily volume of 1,182 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on PCRX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 target price (down from $45.00) on shares of Pacira BioSciences in a report on Monday. Barclays cut shares of Pacira BioSciences from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $25.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Pacira BioSciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Pacira BioSciences from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Pacira BioSciences from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $11.00 in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.22.

Pacira BioSciences Price Performance

Pacira BioSciences stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $12.29. 6,889,021 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 825,672. The firm has a market cap of $572.05 million, a P/E ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 5.70, a current ratio of 6.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.36. Pacira BioSciences has a 1-year low of $11.26 and a 1-year high of $38.23.

Insider Activity

In other Pacira BioSciences news, insider Jonathan Slonin sold 2,836 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $80,117.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,699,485.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Pacira BioSciences news, insider Jonathan Slonin sold 2,836 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $80,117.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,699,485.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Daryl Gaugler sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.38, for a total transaction of $28,380.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 116,040 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,215.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,095 shares of company stock worth $621,118. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacira BioSciences

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 40,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 34,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 12,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacira BioSciences by 61.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.73% of the company’s stock.

About Pacira BioSciences

Pacira BioSciences, Inc engages in the development, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of non-opioid pain management and regenerative health solutions to healthcare practitioners in the United States. The company offers EXPAREL, a bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension; ZILRETTA, a triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension; and iovera system, a non-opioid handheld cryoanalgesia device used to produce controlled doses of cold temperature to targeted nerves.