Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Upgraded to "Hold" at Sanford C. Bernstein

Key Points

• Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Illumina to a “hold” rating, while the broader analyst view remains mixed with a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $146.
• Illumina’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, posting EPS of $1.15 versus $1.05 expected and revenue of $1.09 billion versus $1.07 billion expected, with revenue up 4.8% year over year.
• The stock has been strong, trading near its 52-week high at $176.55 after opening Thursday, while insiders recently sold shares and institutional investors continue to hold the vast majority of the company’s stock.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Illumina from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Illumina from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Illumina from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Illumina from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Illumina from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $146.00.

Illumina Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ILMN opened at $176.55 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $149.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.71 billion, a PE ratio of 32.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Illumina has a 12 month low of $88.00 and a 12 month high of $182.84.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The life sciences company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. Illumina had a return on equity of 31.01% and a net margin of 19.42%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Illumina has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.300 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Illumina will post 5.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Illumina

In other Illumina news, insider Scott M. Davies sold 615 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $110,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,771,540. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Christensen Jakob Wedel sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.04, for a total transaction of $97,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,093,386.24. This trade represents a 4.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,003,769 shares of company stock worth $155,710,908 over the last 90 days. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illumina

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ILMN. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Illumina in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Illumina during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Illumina by 160.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Illumina during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Illumina in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.42% of the company's stock.

About Illumina

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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