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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Illumina from “buy” to “hold.” Across analysts, the stock has a “hold” consensus and an average price target of $244.24.
• Illumina beat quarterly expectations, reporting earnings of $1.62 per share versus a $1.36 estimate and revenue of $1.17 billion versus a $1.15 billion estimate; revenue rose 4.2% year over year.
• Company insiders sold 1.6 million shares worth about $354.8 million over the past 90 days.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Illumina from $226.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Illumina from $113.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Zacks Research cut Illumina from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Illumina to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Illumina from $225.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Ten equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $244.24.

Illumina Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:ILMN opened at $213.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $249.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.12. The company has a market capitalization of $32.23 billion, a PE ratio of 36.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.46. Illumina has a twelve month low of $112.65 and a twelve month high of $309.35.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Illumina will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Illumina news, Director Keith Meister sold 299,336 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.96, for a total transaction of $65,243,274.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,409,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $307,291,123.96. This trade represents a 17.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,601,541 shares of company stock valued at $354,755,291 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ILMN. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Illumina in the second quarter valued at about $3,374,423,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Illumina in the 2nd quarter valued at about $948,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Illumina during the second quarter valued at $30,501,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Illumina in the 2nd quarter valued at about $129,792,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Illumina in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,711,000. 89.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Illumina Company Profile

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.

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