Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Trading Up 9.7% on Strong Earnings

Shares of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) were up 9.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $128.70 and last traded at $127.69. Approximately 448,302 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 2,097,993 shares. The stock had previously closed at $116.36.

The life sciences company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.24. Illumina had a positive return on equity of 2.31% and a negative net margin of 28.71%. The business had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ILMN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Illumina from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Illumina from $195.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Illumina in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Illumina from $125.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Illumina from $249.00 to $242.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.57.

Institutional Trading of Illumina

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Illumina by 166.7% during the first quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 200 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Illumina in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in shares of Illumina by 86.8% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 284 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Illumina during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Illumina during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 89.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Illumina Stock Up 9.9 %

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.25. The firm has a market cap of $20.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.70 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

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.