Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $236.00 and last traded at $229.4720, with a volume of 361659 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $222.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ILMN shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Illumina in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Illumina from $170.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Illumina from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Illumina in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Illumina from $155.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $199.12.

Illumina Stock Up 1.7%

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.78. The company has a market cap of $34.13 billion, a PE ratio of 42.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

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. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Illumina had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 29.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Illumina has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.300-5.400 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Illumina, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Illumina

In related news, SVP Christensen Wedel sold 1,033 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total value of $197,840.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,685,684.96. The trade was a 6.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Keith Meister sold 119,501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.40, for a total transaction of $26,099,018.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 770,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,244,440. The trade was a 13.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,062,465 shares of company stock worth $436,589,802. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Illumina in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,374,423,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Illumina by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 20,101,173 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $2,636,483,000 after purchasing an additional 124,323 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Illumina by 45.5% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,923,173 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $715,579,000 after buying an additional 1,851,848 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new position in shares of Illumina during the second quarter valued at $617,981,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Illumina by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,869,047 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $375,260,000 after buying an additional 130,139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.42% of the company’s stock.

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.