Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New $2.93 Million Investment in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,936 shares of the life sciences company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,931,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Illumina by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 67,155 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $8,974,000 after buying an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL bought a new stake in shares of Illumina in the fourth quarter worth about $448,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Illumina by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 7,735 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Illumina by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 283,175 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $37,841,000 after acquiring an additional 16,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Illumina by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 26,498 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $3,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. 89.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ILMN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Illumina from $135.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Illumina from $127.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Illumina from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen cut shares of Illumina from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $177.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $156.00 price target on shares of Illumina in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.90.

Illumina Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:ILMN opened at $84.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Illumina, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.18 and a 12 month high of $156.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.43 billion, a PE ratio of -11.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50-day moving average is $109.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.58.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The life sciences company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.06). Illumina had a positive return on equity of 13.37% and a negative net margin of 27.95%. Research analysts predict that Illumina, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Illumina

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.