Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $254.85 and last traded at $252.2590, with a volume of 189250 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $247.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ILMN shares. UBS Group raised shares of Illumina from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Illumina from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Illumina from $200.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Illumina in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Illumina from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $199.12.

Illumina Stock Up 1.1%

The stock has a market cap of $37.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $206.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.63.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The life sciences company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.08. Illumina had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 29.84%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Illumina has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.300-5.400 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Illumina, Inc. will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Christensen Wedel sold 1,033 shares of Illumina stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total value of $197,840.16. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,685,684.96. This trade represents a 6.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Keith Meister sold 119,501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.40, for a total value of $26,099,018.40. Following the sale, the director owned 770,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,244,440. This represents a 13.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,062,465 shares of company stock valued at $436,589,802. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Illumina

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Illumina by 10.3% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 93,728 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $16,480,000 after acquiring an additional 8,726 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Illumina by 172.4% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Illumina by 246.7% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 369,856 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $65,032,000 after purchasing an additional 263,172 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Illumina during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,041,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Illumina by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,740 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. 89.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Illumina Company Profile

Illumina, Inc develops and manufactures genomic analysis technologies used by researchers, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies and other organizations. Its offerings include next-generation DNA sequencing systems, microarray platforms, consumables, laboratory services and bioinformatics software designed to help analyze genetic variation and biological functions.

The company’s sequencing instruments include systems for a range of applications and throughput levels, such as the NovaSeq, NextSeq, MiSeq and iSeq platforms.