Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) Stake Boosted by Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.

Key Points

• Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. has increased its holdings in Illumina, Inc. by 36.8%, owning 673,738 shares valued at approximately $53.45 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly modified their stakes, with PFS Partners LLC raising its ownership by 400% and Rakuten Securities Inc. increasing theirs by 290.3%.
• Illumina has an average price target of $125.11 with a consensus rating of "Hold" among analysts, while its share price recently opened at $109.30.

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its stake in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN - Free Report) by 36.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 673,738 shares of the life sciences company's stock after purchasing an additional 181,198 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. owned 0.43% of Illumina worth $53,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Illumina by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 226,852 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $30,314,000 after purchasing an additional 23,338 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Illumina by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 134,913 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $18,028,000 after purchasing an additional 4,738 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Illumina by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 82,867 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $11,073,000 after purchasing an additional 16,339 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Illumina in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP grew its position in Illumina by 92.9% in the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 70,588 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $9,433,000 after acquiring an additional 34,000 shares in the last quarter. 89.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illumina

In related news, CFO Ankur Dhingra purchased 6,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $81.21 per share, with a total value of $495,381.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 24,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,022,616.26. This represents a 32.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on ILMN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Illumina from $128.00 to $112.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup cut shares of Illumina from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Illumina from $87.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Illumina in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Illumina from $116.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $125.89.

Illumina Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:ILMN traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $109.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,532,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,153,823. The company has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a PE ratio of 32.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.45. Illumina, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.70 and a 1-year high of $156.66.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The life sciences company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. Illumina had a negative net margin of 22.25% and a positive return on equity of 25.54%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Illumina, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

About Illumina

Illumina, Inc offers sequencing- and array-based solutions for genetic and genomic analysis in the United States, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through Core Illumina and GRAIL segments. The company offers sequencing and array-based instruments and consumables, which include reagents, flow cells, and library preparation; whole-genome sequencing kits, which sequence entire genomes of various size and complexity; and targeted resequencing kits, which sequence exomes, specific genes, and RNA or other genomic regions of interest.