Illumina, Inc. $ILMN Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

Key Points

• AIA Group cut its Illumina stake by 35.9% in the third quarter, selling 4,420 shares and retaining 7,895 shares valued at about $2.16 million.
• Illumina beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $1.62 versus $1.36 expected, while revenue rose 4.2% year over year to $1.17 billion.
• Illumina was selected for Singapore’s genomics study targeting about 450,000 people, though the contract’s financial value was not disclosed. Analyst views remain mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating.

AIA Group Ltd trimmed its position in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN - Free Report) by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,895 shares of the life sciences company's stock after selling 4,420 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Illumina were worth $2,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Illumina by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,297 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Illumina by 3.3% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Illumina by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 292 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Illumina by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 9,474 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $2,593,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in Illumina by 2.2% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,506 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.42% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Illumina

Here are the key news stories impacting Illumina this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Illumina was selected to provide whole-genome sequencing for Singapore’s SG-INSIGHT study, part of the country’s National Precision Medicine program. The study aims to include about 450,000 people, expanding Illumina’s role in a large public-health genomics initiative. The announcement did not disclose contract value or expected revenue, so the immediate financial contribution is unclear. Article: Illumina selected to help bring precision medicine into everyday healthcare in Singapore
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target for Illumina, signaling a more favorable valuation view from the analyst. The available report does not specify the revised target or rationale. Article: Illumina stock gets price target boost from Citigroup
• Neutral Sentiment: Grail reported weaker-than-expected sales of its cancer-detection blood test, sending Grail shares lower. This is not a direct Illumina operating result; any impact on ILMN would be indirect sentiment or read-through, rather than evidence of weaker Illumina sales. Article: Grail Comes Up Short, Reporting Light Sales Of Its Cancer-Detecting Blood Test

Insider Buying and Selling at Illumina

In other Illumina news, SVP Christensen Wedel sold 1,033 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was 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 $2,685,684.96. This represents a 6.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Keith Meister sold 299,336 shares of Illumina stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 1,320,108 shares of company stock valued at $288,195,392 over the last quarter. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ILMN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Illumina from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 30th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Illumina from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Illumina from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, October 11th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Illumina from $226.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of Illumina from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $244.24.

Illumina Trading Down 4.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:ILMN opened at $226.54 on Thursday. Illumina, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.65 and a 12-month high of $309.35. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $249.77 and a 200 day moving average of $177.46. The company has a market cap of $34.25 billion, a PE ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.46.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The life sciences company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.26. Illumina had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 28.38%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Illumina, Inc. will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Illumina Company Profile

Illumina, Inc is a biotechnology company that develops and manufactures genomics and genetic-analysis technologies. Its products are used to study DNA and RNA in applications including biomedical research, clinical testing, pharmaceutical development, reproductive health, oncology and population genomics.

The company's offerings include next-generation sequencing systems, consumable flow cells and reagent kits, microarrays, and genomic data-analysis software. Its sequencing portfolio includes instruments such as the NovaSeq, NextSeq, MiSeq and iSeq platforms, while its informatics products include the DRAGEN platform, which supports the processing and interpretation of sequencing data.

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