Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) Short Interest Down 5.6% in October

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) was the target of a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,180,000 shares, a decline of 5.6% from the October 15th total of 5,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Illumina Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ILMN traded down $0.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $94.32. 6,937,256 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,579,144. The company has a market cap of $14.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.20, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 1.16. Illumina has a 1 year low of $89.00 and a 1 year high of $238.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $126.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 9th. The life sciences company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Illumina had a negative net margin of 25.20% and a positive return on equity of 2.13%. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Illumina will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Illumina

In other news, SVP Aimee L. Hoyt sold 315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.84, for a total transaction of $35,544.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $938,151.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Susan H. Tousi sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.04, for a total value of $83,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,524 shares in the company, valued at $7,604,328.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Aimee L. Hoyt sold 315 shares of Illumina stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.84, for a total transaction of $35,544.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $938,151.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illumina

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Illumina by 460.9% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 129 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in Illumina in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its holdings in Illumina by 125.7% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 158 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. BOKF NA bought a new stake in Illumina in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Illumina in the second quarter valued at $32,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on ILMN shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Illumina from $229.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Illumina in a research report on Thursday, September 28th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Illumina from $337.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Illumina in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Illumina from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $194.56.

About Illumina

Illumina, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets life science tools and integrated systems for large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function. 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; and whole-genome sequencing kits, which sequence entire genomes of any size and complexity, and targeted resequencing kits, which sequence exomes, specific genes, and RNA or other genomic regions of interest.