Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Downgraded to Sell at StockNews.com

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN – Get Rating) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ILMN. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Illumina in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $216.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Illumina from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, November 4th. Citigroup lowered Illumina from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $200.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, December 12th. TheStreet downgraded Illumina from a “c-” rating to a “d” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Illumina from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $249.80.

Illumina Price Performance

NASDAQ ILMN traded down $17.24 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $198.50. 2,483,145 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,342,424. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $205.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $209.50. Illumina has a fifty-two week low of $173.45 and a fifty-two week high of $371.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $31.22 billion, a PE ratio of -7.52 and a beta of 1.13.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 7th. The life sciences company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.11). Illumina had a positive return on equity of 4.36% and a negative net margin of 88.40%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Illumina’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Illumina will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Susan H. Tousi sold 500 shares of Illumina stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.63, for a total value of $106,315.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,327,016.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Aimee L. Hoyt sold 871 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.57, for a total value of $179,051.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,773.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan H. Tousi sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.63, for a total value of $106,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,327,016.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,371 shares of company stock worth $493,441. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Illumina

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Illumina by 62.0% in the third quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,521,397 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $862,637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,169 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP grew its stake in Illumina by 150.6% in the 2nd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,563,455 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $288,239,000 after purchasing an additional 939,671 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Illumina by 74.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,574,461 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $300,391,000 after purchasing an additional 671,462 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management SA increased its position in shares of Illumina by 188.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 507,090 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $96,748,000 after purchasing an additional 331,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Illumina by 208.1% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 432,039 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $87,358,000 after purchasing an additional 291,828 shares during the period. 87.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Illumina Company Profile

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Illumina, Inc engages in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of life science tools and integrated systems for large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function. It operates through the Core Illumina segment, which serves customers in the research, clinical and applied markets fields, and enables the adoption of a variety of genomic solutions.