Westpac Banking Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its position in shares of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) by 59.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,358 shares of the life sciences company’s stock after selling 4,957 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Illumina were worth $449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ILMN. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Illumina by 153.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 241 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illumina in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Illumina by 954.8% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 327 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in Illumina during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Illumina in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. 89.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Illumina Price Performance

ILMN stock opened at $74.16 on Friday. Illumina, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.64 and a 1 year high of $156.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.75 billion, a PE ratio of -9.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.10.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ILMN shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Illumina from $135.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen downgraded Illumina from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $177.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. HSBC lowered shares of Illumina from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Illumina from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Illumina from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.90.

Illumina Profile

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.