Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Stock Rating Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Illumina from “hold” to “buy,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with an average price target of $222.19.
• Illumina reported quarterly results above expectations, with EPS of $1.31 versus the $1.23 consensus and revenue of $1.16 billion, up 9.4% year over year.
• The stock opened at $278.17, near its 12-month high of $309.35, while insiders sold approximately $436.5 million in shares over the past 90 days.

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

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on ILMN. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Illumina in a research note on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Illumina from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Illumina from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Illumina from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Illumina to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $222.19.

Illumina Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ILMN opened at $278.17 on Friday. Illumina has a twelve month low of $88.00 and a twelve month high of $309.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business's 50-day moving average price is $227.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.89. The stock has a market cap of $42.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.90, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.41.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The life sciences company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.08. Illumina had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 29.84%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Illumina's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Illumina has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.300-5.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Illumina will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Illumina news, SVP Christensen Wedel sold 1,033 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total transaction of $197,840.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,685,684.96. The trade was a 6.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Keith Meister sold 119,501 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.40, for a total value of $26,099,018.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 770,350 shares in the company, valued at $168,244,440. The trade was a 13.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,061,850 shares of company stock valued at $436,479,102. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ILMN. GK Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Illumina in the third quarter worth about $97,000. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Illumina by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,852 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Breakwater Capital Group bought a new position in shares of Illumina in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $243,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Illumina by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Illumina by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 999 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.42% of the company's stock.

About Illumina

Illumina, Inc develops and manufactures technologies used to analyze genetic variation and biological function. Its products are primarily based on next-generation sequencing, a method that enables researchers and clinicians to read DNA and RNA for applications including genomic research, disease studies, drug development and clinical testing.

The company offers sequencing instruments, consumables such as reagent kits and flow cells, and related software and informatics solutions. Illumina also provides services and support designed to help customers prepare samples, run sequencing workflows, interpret genomic data and integrate results into research or clinical operations.

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in San Diego, California, Illumina serves customers worldwide, including academic and government research institutions, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, hospitals, clinical laboratories and other healthcare organizations.

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