Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,210,000 shares, an increase of 10.2% from the November 15th total of 6,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ILMN. UBS Group raised their target price on Illumina from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Illumina in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Illumina from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup cut shares of Illumina from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Illumina from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Illumina presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $165.95.

Illumina Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ ILMN traded down $2.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $143.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,808,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,009,685. Illumina has a twelve month low of $100.08 and a twelve month high of $156.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.44 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $144.27 and a 200 day moving average of $128.44.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The life sciences company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Illumina had a positive return on equity of 7.29% and a negative net margin of 36.10%. The firm's revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Illumina will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Illumina

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Illumina by 23.1% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,755 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Illumina by 2,203.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,534 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 2,424 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Illumina by 3.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 399,966 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $41,748,000 after acquiring an additional 13,725 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. grew its stake in Illumina by 1.2% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. now owns 80,336 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $8,385,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Illumina by 13.6% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,870 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the period. 89.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.