Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stephens downgraded shares of Illumina from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Illumina from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Illumina from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Illumina from $225.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Illumina from $155.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illumina has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.24.

Illumina Price Performance

Illumina stock opened at $220.78 on Friday. Illumina has a 52 week low of $112.65 and a 52 week high of $309.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $249.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.46. The company has a quick ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $33.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.15, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.46.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The life sciences company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Illumina had a return on equity of 28.38% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Illumina will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illumina

In related news, Director Keith Meister sold 299,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.96, for a total value of $65,243,274.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,409,851 shares in the company, valued at $307,291,123.96. The trade was a 17.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,601,541 shares of company stock worth $354,755,291. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Illumina in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,374,423,000. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Illumina by 45.5% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,923,173 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $715,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851,848 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new position in Illumina in the 2nd quarter worth $617,981,000. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in Illumina by 37,920.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,359,974 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $372,198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,397 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Illumina in the 2nd quarter worth $358,652,000. 89.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Illumina

Illumina, Inc develops and supplies technologies used to analyze genetic variation and biological function. Its products include next-generation sequencing systems, microarrays, reagents and consumables, as well as software and related services that help customers generate and interpret genomic data.

The company’s technology is used in applications such as medical and population research, genetic testing, drug development, and agricultural and environmental studies. Its customers include academic and government research institutions, hospitals and clinical laboratories, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and other organizations around the world.

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in San Diego, California, Illumina serves customers internationally.