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If your rankings haven't dropped don't worry. PR has been a useless statistic for a long time. And like Steve said, Panda update has nothing to do with PR since PR is based on links, Panda deals with content.

We ran a test linking a new domain (lets say it was asdfdfhfgj.com) and found out that the second anchor text to the same url bears a lot less weight than the first one.

We linked asdfdfhfgj.com from a respected domain/page. Two links, different anchor texts. Both anchor texts where random strings that previously returned no results on Google. For the first months the page only ranked for the first random string, not the second. This is obviously just one data point but it does suggest something about the way Google treats links to identical urls from a single page.

However, this effect is far from a penalty and I doubt Google would ever penalize for having two links to an identical url on one page.

I believe in Google and SEOmoz Toolbar. Go to Google and start going through queries related to the landing pages the rakings of which you are trying the improve. You can also try this tool http://www.seomoz.org/labs/link-intersect.

Make a list of all the search results you find which are highly related and have a decent page authority, domain authority and Moz Trust rank. What numbers are decent? Depends on your language and niche. I prefer sites that have better ranks than the site Im linking although this does not apply for very new domains with weak ranks.

When you have an abundant list on urls start going through them to find ways to get your link sneaked in somehow. Comment, add link, post an article all make your job easier but often mean lower quality links. Contacting the webmasters to propose exchanging a quality article for a few links might do the trick in some niches. Indirect link trading is one of my favorites. Obviously you can just pay for links as well although this a method I tend to avoid.

Whats the best way to get a large number of links in the long run? Good content. Your content should be high quality enough to draw links on its own. It will do so more likely if you remind your visitors to link you and make it as easy as possible. You are the best judge of what content will draw links in your niche. Doesn't hurt to do some keyword research and figure out if there are topics not yet covered by other sites - those are great link baits.

I also tend to be active on sites which have linked me or from which I want a link from. A few good comments might well lead to a do follow link to your website in a blogs next article. And its always nice to say thanks when this happens - not least to ensure some follow up links in the future :).

Also remember that link building is an on-going process. You want a steady, constant flow of links. Not 1000 links today and none for the next 6 months!

Hope this helps