Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN - Free Report) by 21.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,000 shares of the life sciences company's stock after selling 12,300 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings in Illumina were worth $5,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ILMN. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Illumina by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,129,855 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $551,625,000 after purchasing an additional 867,673 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Illumina by 148.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,056,172 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $137,735,000 after buying an additional 631,294 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Illumina by 40.5% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,168,057 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $282,735,000 after buying an additional 625,245 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Illumina by 116.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 865,546 shares of the life sciences company's stock valued at $115,663,000 after buying an additional 466,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iron Triangle Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Illumina in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,380,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.42% of the company's stock.

Illumina Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ILMN traded down $1.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $100.24. 3,135,782 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,850,528. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.43 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $132.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.82. Illumina, Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.35 and a 1 year high of $156.66. The firm has a market cap of $15.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.05 and a beta of 1.10.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The life sciences company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.06). Illumina had a negative net margin of 27.95% and a positive return on equity of 12.59%. Equities research analysts forecast that Illumina, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ILMN. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Illumina from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Illumina from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Illumina from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Illumina from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Illumina from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illumina currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $159.45.

Illumina Company 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.