Syon Capital LLC Takes Position in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)

Syon Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,933 shares of the life sciences company's stock, valued at approximately $965,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Illumina in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Illumina by 344.6% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 249 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Illumina in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in Illumina by 375.0% in the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 285 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its holdings in shares of Illumina by 183.0% in the fourth quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 300 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.42% of the company's stock.

Illumina Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ILMN traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $121.05. 962,067 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,729,586. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a PE ratio of -16.49 and a beta of 1.19. Illumina, Inc. has a 12 month low of $89.00 and a 12 month high of $217.60. The company's 50 day moving average price is $131.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.50.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The life sciences company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.13. Illumina had a negative net margin of 25.78% and a positive return on equity of 2.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Illumina, Inc. will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jacob Thaysen purchased 7,330 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $135.29 per share, with a total value of $991,675.70. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,861 shares in the company, valued at $2,010,544.69. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ILMN. HSBC lowered shares of Illumina from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. OTR Global reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Illumina in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Illumina from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $144.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $253.00 target price on shares of Illumina in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Illumina in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $167.70.

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.