Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stake in Illumina, Inc. $ILMN

Key Points

• Wilkins Investment Counsel trimmed its stake in Illumina by 7.7% in Q4, selling 10,915 shares to hold 131,320 shares (about 2.5% of the fund's portfolio), with its Illumina position valued at $17.224 million (0.09% ownership of the company).
• Illumina beat Q1 expectations (non‑GAAP EPS $1.15 vs. $1.05; revenue $1.09B, +4.8% y/y), raised FY‑2026 EPS guidance to $5.15–$5.30 and authorized an additional $1.5B in share buybacks, driven by strong NovaSeq X demand and clinical sequencing growth.
• SVP Patricia Leckman sold 2,370 shares at an average $116.18 (a 12.68% reduction in her stake); institutional investors own 89.42% of Illumina and analysts' consensus rating is a Hold with an average target of $130.13.

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN - Free Report) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,320 shares of the life sciences company's stock after selling 10,915 shares during the period. Illumina comprises about 2.5% of Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.09% of Illumina worth $17,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Illumina during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC grew its holdings in Illumina by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 195 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in Illumina during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Illumina during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Illumina during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. 89.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Illumina

In other Illumina news, SVP Patricia Leckman sold 2,370 shares of Illumina stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total transaction of $275,346.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 16,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,896,173.78. The trade was a 12.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Illumina Price Performance

NASDAQ:ILMN opened at $135.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market cap of $20.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $125.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.65. Illumina, Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.86 and a 1-year high of $155.53.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The life sciences company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.10. Illumina had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 31.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Illumina has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.300 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Illumina, Inc. will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

More Illumina News

Here are the key news stories impacting Illumina this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat on both EPS and revenue, with non‑GAAP EPS $1.15 vs. $1.05 consensus and revenue $1.09B (up 4.8% y/y); management raised FY‑2026 EPS guidance to $5.15–$5.30 and updated revenue targets — this underpins the stock strength. Illumina Reports Financial Results for First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Management cited surging NovaSeq X demand and growth in clinical sequencing as a primary driver of revenue momentum — a product‑driven acceleration that supports durable top‑line growth. ILMN Q1 deep dive: Clinical sequencing fuels growth as NovaSeq X demand surges
• Positive Sentiment: Board authorized an additional $1.5B in share repurchases, expanding buybacks alongside better margins — a capital‑return boost that can support near‑term EPS and investor sentiment. Illumina lifts 2026 outlook and expands share buybacks
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are updating models: JPMorgan raised its price target to $125 but kept a "neutral" rating, reflecting mixed views on near‑term upside despite operational improvements. Analyst Price Target Update
• Negative Sentiment: Even with the PT bump, the $125 target implies a mid‑single‑digit to low‑double‑digit downside from current levels — a reminder that some analysts still see limited valuation upside and room for multiple compression. Analyst Price Target Update

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ILMN. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Illumina in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird set a $137.00 target price on shares of Illumina in a report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Illumina from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Illumina in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Illumina from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $130.13.

Illumina Company Profile

Illumina, Inc NASDAQ: ILMN is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and markets integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and function. Headquartered in San Diego, California and founded in 1998, Illumina offers a range of sequencing and array-based technologies used by academic researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, consumer genomics firms and agricultural researchers to enable discovery, translational research and clinical applications.

The company's product portfolio includes next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms and associated consumables, microarrays for genotyping and methylation analysis, library preparation kits and targeted assays.

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