Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Citigroup

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Citigroup from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $80.00 price target on the life sciences company's stock, down from their previous price target of $85.00. Citigroup's target price points to a potential downside of 19.40% from the company's current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $85.00 price objective (up from $77.00) on shares of Illumina in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Illumina from $120.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Illumina from $128.00 to $112.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Illumina in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Illumina from $116.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $125.11.

Illumina Stock Down 0.8%

Illumina stock traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $99.25. The stock had a trading volume of 1,998,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,153,999. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.36. Illumina has a 12-month low of $68.70 and a 12-month high of $156.66. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $87.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.21.

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

Insider Transactions at Illumina

In other Illumina news, CFO Ankur Dhingra purchased 6,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $81.21 per share, with a total value of $495,381.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,022,616.26. This trade represents a 32.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illumina

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ILMN. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Illumina by 173.6% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Illumina by 290.3% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 363 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. bought a new position in Illumina during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in Illumina during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, PFS Partners LLC grew its holdings in Illumina by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 500 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.42% of the company's stock.

Illumina Company Profile

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.